Unbreakable Bonds
by animefreak5483
Summary: Set after the events of the final episode in season one as our team is tossed through different wormholes. Keith finds himself needing to pull his mysterious past and turbulent present together in order to become a leader. Finding the others, regrouping and taking out Zarkon are his future, but will it be that easy? Follows along with my other two Voltron LD fics. Slight KA
1. Stranded

**_Chapter 1: Stranded_**

 _Voltron LD timeline, after the Netflix season 1 cliffhanger. I know they promised that there would be a "season 2" or "second half of the first season" coming soon, but the plot bunnies won't leave things alone. After watching the teaser clip at San Diego Comic Con and sitting in on the panels for Voltron LD, I decided to release the bunnies!_

 _While there won't be a lot of KA in the early chapters – they got separated after all- this story does include hints of that pairing, and builds on the other Voltron LD short fics "Left Behind" and "Interrupted Moments." There will also be many interactions between the team; I do love the dynamics of the new group._

 _With that in mind, please do enjoy chapter 1 of Unbreakable Bonds._

* * *

It made sense. The moment that things looked to be going somewhat reasonable in his life, something came around that had him spinning and tumbling. This time more literal than others.

Inside the Red Lion's cockpit, Keith Kogane could do nothing to correct his course or to get control of his trajectory. He hated not being in control. Feeling helpless to fate.

After his fight with Zarkon, his lion's energy and systems remained unresponsive, considering the others were falling out of control as well even if he did have the power, it would not have done much. Bracing himself as the spinning and tumbling continued, the Red Lion pilot took a calming breath and let the forces-that-be take him through an open wormhole.

* * *

"What did you say, cadet?" The shouting echoed in his mind a bit much for it to be real. "You think just because you have the highest scores and most potential that I won't kick your ass out of this academy. I don't care who you are or if you shit gold! Disrespect is disrespect."

The bellowing man continued to bark in a distorted voice.

Blackness continued to surround him, but Keith knew this memory all too well…

"I said that your version of the story is wrong sir," a slightly younger Keith remembered standing his ground against one of the harshest instructors at the Garrison. Keith had refused to accept the fact that Shiro, his friend, and mentor could make such a critical mistake and cost the lives of his crew. This wasn't the first time he had gone head to head with this particular guardian of Garrison's truth.

It happened rather frequently in his years under the care of the Garrison. Several of the instances where the strong-willed boy voiced his opposition to the official story came during accounts of his parent's disappearance during their service with the fleet and the circumstances at the orphanage, before Shiro had rescued him. Those he could brush off after a few demerits and issuances of nasty punishments, but to sit by and listen to others falsely accuse Shiro, a well-decorated veteran, that went too far.

"Wrong? And what would a mutt like you know about it? The Garrison says the sky is green, and it's green, you got it?"

"I'll call the sky whatever color you want, but you can take a flying leap before I accept that Shiro made a mistake. The Garrison is covering something up, and you know it. What happened to logic and following the clues?"

"If you don't shut your mouth this instant, I'm going to…"

Keith remembered the vein that popped out of the military man's neck. The reddening of his skin from shouting and anger showed well against the gray of his uniform. He didn't need to see the image to recall the look the man gave him- one that warned him to shut up now… or else.

He was throwing the older man a similar look, although he doubted his face showed as much anger. Mostly the expression of slightly contained rage and stubbornness was what he let others see in times like these. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but begin to feel some of that rage building up, simply remembering that lies that the Garrison fed its people… and the people of Earth.

 _Calm down Keith,_ he told himself as the memory began to fade and he felt once more connected to his body. The pain hitting him also brought the memory to a quick close as he sat up quickly with a gasp as if breathing again after a time without the ability to do so.

His eyes adjusted and he found himself on the floor of the cockpit. The once well-lighted dashboard of the Red Lion remained dark and in the back of his mind he could hear what was either a ringing of his ear drums or what remained of the warning alarm that sounded as his lion went out of control and his harness unlatched.

"What the hell happened?" He asked aloud. His mental connection with his lion worried him, Red was not responding to him. "I really put you through the thrasher, didn't I boy? Sorry about that." Attempting to get to his knees and stand, Keith ended up hunched over a console with a throbbing pain in his arm and a nasty spout of dizziness.

"Just what I need, a broken arm maybe and a concussion," he muttered, pulling off his helmet. "I guess it could be worse."

Looking around the cabin, Keith decided to take a seat and assess his situation better… just as soon as the world stopped spinning.

"I think we should get our money back from that crazy ride, huh Red?" Silence filled the area, and Keith sighed. "You take a break; I'll see what I can do to get you back up and running."

After a few minutes of awkward tinkering with the controls and working with a painful arm, Keith came to the conclusion that the power cells were drained, and his kitty sustained some pretty nasty bruises.

"We match, don't we?" The young pilot chuckled as he decided to use the emergency exit to see where exactly he ended up. Putting his helmet back on, and allowing the face mask to activate, the trek outside could begin.

The hiss of the door opening to the different pressure and the brightness had him frozen in place for a moment.

Using the computer in the helmet's visor, he searched the atmosphere and was relieved to find the air appeared to be breathable… or at least he hoped he read that correctly. His brain still seemed a bit fuzzy.

Deactivating the mask, he took a deep breath of the air. It was clean and felt natural. Taking in his surroundings, Keith found himself smack dab in the middle of a lush, tropical looking jungle. Red Lion had been thrown at some speed that the impact of the landing seemed to take out a good portion of a heavily forested hill.

He could hear birds talking to each other and the sound of running water not too far off in the distance. The heat of the area also smacked him in the face, and he began to sweat in his suit. Using the visor's camera and computer, he quickly tried to see if there were any life forms nearby.

In his condition, he decided, the fact that no one was around was good news. Also, the broken trees seemed to create a natural camouflage for the bright red machine.

"I refuse to live in the jungle like some Tarzan wild man," he began looking back into the cockpit. "I wonder if I could hook up my helmet and Bayard to Red's central computers and skim enough juice to get the long range scanners up…"

While Keith certainly wasn't at the same level as Pidge or Hunk with technology, he had done well for himself. Even during his Garrison days, he and Shiro would tinker with hover bikes and other machines. He had built his favorite red twin hovercraft from scratch out in that desert, how hard could it be to tinker with an ancient, but super advanced form of alien tech?

"First thing is first… this arm is killing me."

Finding the Arusian version of a first aid kit in the lion, he began to work on his injuries. Taking off his suit, he wanted to conserve as much of its power as possible. He may just need those jet packs and pressurized abilities later.

His black shirt and tight fitting jean-like pants felt weird without his signature red jacket, but he quickly got over that and started poking at his left arm.

"It might just be dislocated…" he mused as he found that the pain came from his shoulder. "Better just get it over with," he prepped himself as he stood and slammed his shoulder into a wall. The pop told him that the bone went back into place, and the stars he saw for a brief moment had him imagining a sore are for some time to come.

Grabbing his never far from his side dagger, safely stored in a compartment on the backside of the pilot seat, he strapped it to his belt. Keith, feeling somewhat better with his keepsake on him, once more sat at the controls with his helmet and Bayard in hand.

"Time to get to work."

* * *

It took some time. Keith openly admitted to himself that had Pidge or Hunk been present, it would have been finished long ago… and with fewer burns to his hands when connecting or pulling out a wrong wire.

The main screen of the Red Lion slowly powered on, with a much dimmer luster, but it was enough.

"Ok, let's check out this planet. Maybe one of the others landed here as well, Shiro and Black shouldn't be too far… right?" He wondered out loud, still not hearing much from his lion partner. "Bingo!"

Zooming in on a power signature, Keith let out an excited shout and was about to pump his arm into the air, until the pain came shooting back.

"Looks like Shiro isn't too far, that's good. Seems one thing is going for me, huh Red?"

Taking a few last minutes to draw out a map, Keith then scanned the planet to see if he could find the others.

"Not another of the group, but I need to keep a low profile, looks like Zarkon has an outpost here…"

Shutting down the power, he needed to make sure that there was some left just in case the baddies got to Black first. Minimal powered Red could still do some damage to an attacking force.

"Time to do a little hiking," Keith tried to motivate himself for what looked like a several hour hike through a humid jungle.

"Hang on Shiro, I'm coming for you."

* * *

The trek across the terrain took more out of him than he had hoped. Only a few hours in and he found himself short of breath and wishing he had his speeder.

Thoughts of his little house, well, shack was maybe the better term for it, filled him as he used his dagger to chop the brush out of his way. The small place wasn't anything spectacular, that little homestead, but it was home.

Stumbling upon the dilapidated building during his time searching for what he now knew to be the Blue Lion, he decided to use it as a base of sorts. He made little improvements to the roof and cleaned up the eerily vacant rooms. No owners came to claim it, and so he stayed. Building his speeder, looking for clues to whatever drew him out there, and wishing Shiro had not gone missing, a lot happened there. It felt soothing to think about it now.

 _I wonder if I'll ever see that place again,_ he questioned himself during a short rest against a large tree; he needed to give his already weak legs a break. Looking up into the foliage, he could hardly see the sky- the leaves filled it up so much, it was breathtaking. Even knowing that Zarkon's forces claimed this vast planet, there still remained some parts untouched... places of peace.

His next thoughts went to his small bunk in the castle. He had only lived there for a short time. The new surroundings felt comfortable and the mission they inherited seemed to give him a new focus. He was part of something important in that castle. The last time he found the prospect of being part of something greater came when Shiro brought him to the Garrison. Thinking back, he held high hopes for his time and years in the service of his planet.

 _That hadn't ended well_ , internally he muttered. _I can't let it happen again._

 _Get to Shiro and Black, swing back to Red, launch off the planet, find the others, and defeat Zarkon… then head home?_ He stopped, not knowing what to think about planning that far ahead and the prospect of heading back to Earth. Would he want to go back there? It wasn't like it held many happy memories for him.

Pushing himself forward, he knew he didn't want to be stuck out in the wilderness after sunset.

 _Home_ , that would be a subject of further discussion at another time. Currently there was too much on his plate at the moment to get tied up in those matters.

 _Shiro's counting on me._

 _She's counting on me._ His eyes closed and he felt a strange ache to not know if the Princess of Arus was safe... or injured... or worse.

 _No, stop it!_ He demanded of himself. _Allura will be fine, she's a lot stronger than we are._ And _I won't fail. Not now, not ever again. Patience and a cool head brings results. Focus on getting to Black._

His mantra gave him the strength to push on, quickening his pace. And by some miracle, the image of the massive Black Lion came in sight just as the sun started to vanish below the horizon. Keith felt a wave of relief wash over his tired body.

 _Thank the heavens, I've made it._

With his stamina weaning, he still managed to climb the debris from the lion's landfall. The massive beast sat silently with its face angling down towards the ground. Keith felt if the robot lion had actually been a real cat, it looked as if it was sniffing the ground. Getting closer, he wondered why Shiro had not noticed his presence from inside the lion.

The silence unnerved the younger man as he forgot the pain in his arms and legs and pressed on... something was wrong.

At the peak of the debris, Keith finally got a view of what the lion guarded. There on the ground lay a still form of the Black Lion's pilot.

"Shiro!"

* * *

 _Is our hunky leader in some kind of trouble? What will our other pretty boy and leader-in-training do? You'll have to stop by next time and find out!_

 _Until then, feel free to leave me a comment, constructive criticism, or just plain randomness. All are appreciated!_


	2. Caught

_Welcome once more dear reader to chapter two! I forgot to state the obvious in the last chapter- I don't own it, I'm just letting my plot bunnies run with the characters that others have shared with the world._  
 _  
With that out of the way, let's jump right in to see what is in store for our two boys and maybe the rest of the group- well, to be honest, they won't be in for a bit. Right now we're going to focus in on Keith and Shiro._

 _Here is Chapter Two: Caught_

* * *

The adrenaline surged through his system seeing his comrade lying on the ground. It didn't matter what hurt or the danger to him injuring himself further, getting down to his friend, his brother… that was all that mattered.

Skidding down the slope, he jumped over some rocks jutting out in his way. Nearly falling flat on his face as he hit the ground, Keith agilely corrected himself and sprinted the remaining distance to the small clearing near the feet of the mighty Black Lion.

His stride slowed slightly as a rumble from within the lion caught his attention; looking up at the beast, he wondered whether or not it would strike him if he continued.

"I'm here to help, big guy." He called up to the lion and decided lion or no, he needed to get to Shiro. The sound from the beast changed, and now it sounded more… understanding. "Thanks," he waived, still slightly unnerved.

Kneeling on the ground, next to his unmoving friend Keith's mind when blank. He had done some first aid training in the Garrison, but none of what he saw prepared him for Shiro being injured. His friend always projected strength, this weak version of his mentor still unnerved him.

The pilot of the Red Lion didn't know exactly what to do next.

Shaking the unconscious man would only aggregate any unseen injury - that much he knew. Keith took a deep breath, trying to clear the jumble in his mind.

 _Calm and collected,_ he told himself as he slowly pulled the black and white helmet off his friend's head. The soft groan from the older man on the ground meant that he wasn't dead.

Placing his ungloved fingers to his friend's neck, he found further proof that Shiro remained alive and strong.

Tapping lightly on his cheek, Keith tried to rouse his friend back to the waking world.

"Shiro, hey, Shiro," he called as he tried to brush some of the sweat soaked hair off Shiro's face. The man felt hot to the touch, and the rapid movement of his eyes under closed lids told of internal suffering. Keith didn't know what plagued his friend, but the mental anguish of being locked in one of those sort of dreams could not mean pleasant images.

"More like a nightmare," Keith mumbled reaching for his small pouch attached to his belt.

Pulling out the canteen, he put it to Shiro's lips and tried to get some fluid into his friend.

"You're sweating too much, you're going to dehydrate yourself. Shit, I need to find us a water source soon at this rate."

Pulling off his black shirt, Keith poured more of the water from the canteen onto it. Using it as a rag, he began to dab his friend's face.

"It's too hot out here, and you've got to get cooled down. This won't do a lot of good, but it will help. Hang in there Shiro... you can't give up on me now..."

After feeling a slight difference in his friend's external temperature, Keith stood and looked around; he could feel the hot and humid air against the now exposed skin of his chest and back.

Turning to face the Black Lion, he was slightly surprised, as its head had lowered sometime while he was tending Shiro. Black now appeared to sit on his hind legs, crouching down lower to the ground.

"Great, you'll help with the shade," he nodded, but then got a strange feeling. Scratching his head, he didn't know what exactly to make out of the faint voice in the back of his mind.

Taking a step closer to the Lion, Keith slowly outreached his hand, not knowing what to expect. The voice whispered to him, something unintelligible that reminded him of his time out in the desert.

If he gained access to the cockpit, many of their problems would find a resolution. At the very least, there was another med kit in there and if the beast allowed him, the use of functioning communication system to try and find where they were… where the others were… and maybe get off this planet, that would be a great help.

Expectations remained low for the Lion actually to let him in, but relief washed over his tired body when the beast opened his jaw and offered entry.

"Thank you, friend," Keith patted the side of one of the large teeth as he hopped up and ventured into the command center for the head of Voltron.

The first thing he noticed as he entered Black Lion's cockpit came with the warmth and calming feeling that surrounded him. It felt different in here than his Red Lion, and it unnerved him how natural it was. Shaking that thought off, he kept himself focused on the task at hand. Behind the pilot's seat, inside a compartment locked away, he found the basics he needed to help Shiro and get them situated for the night.

"I don't know why I didn't think to bring the kit from Red with me, but this should get us through the night." Grabbing what he needed, Keith looked at the large chair and control panel.

"Shiro first, then search for others," he told the lion before he made his way back out the way he came in.

Jumping down he thanked Black once more and got to work. Lifting Shiro's still sweating and unconscious body up by his shoulders, Keith pulled him further under the massive lion for shade. Slowly, Keith began to take off the heavy matching armor.

A hiss of pain escaped the lips of the older man as Keith stumbled upon the injury to Shiro's side. Keith swore aloud, knowing that treating the strange claw-like mark was beyond his abilities.

"What happened to you on that ship?" But no answer came from the distressed man, just unrecognizable grunts, and groans. The wound did not bleed like normal gashes, the skin appeared burnt and scarred, almost as if branded or the wound instantly closed the skin.

And that worried him. If there was a poison involved with the injury, it now resided inside of Shiro, and there wasn't anything Keith could do.

"Your temp seems cooler," he tested his hand against Shiro's forehead while his eyes lingered a bit on the white streak of hair. His mentor and friend certainly changed a lot after his experience as a Galran slave and fighter in the pits. The hair, the scar on his face, his bionic arm… Shiro's body now contained more scars then his own.

"I gave you those Arusian pain pills, I hope I read the directions correctly, and we have enough water for a while, but more is needed," Keith looked at the surrounding area, knowing that he would have a bit of work ahead of him to make this more into a makeshift camp for the night.

Night, yes, it would be night soon. And when the night came, a small fire would be needed, as well as a few other necessities. If this was anything like the forests on Earth – or what was left of them- it could get rather chilly when the sun went down, not to mention dark.

 _Who knows what is out here in the middle of the night_ , he thought looking around at the tall trees and brush that surrounded their little landing site. _At least whatever was out here with us will need to climb the slight incline to get at us. I figure Black will also help with detecting anything coming at us... that should buy me some time._

"Hang tight Shiro; I think that you are stable enough for me to try and find our friends.  
Just try to relax and I'll be back soon." Keith told his comrade as he newly dampened the shirt and placed it back on the troubled man's forehead.

Walking to the Lion's mouth, Keith once more released a sigh of relief when Black welcomed him inside the command center. Feeling the awe in the massive beast's aura, he slowly made his way to the pilot's seat. It felt strange even thinking about sitting in the space his mentor normally occupied.

"Sorry big guy, I know I'm a poor substitute, but for now, all I need is a quick peek at your sensors." He apologized, not feeling very comfortable with being in this situation either. Yet, Black Lion's controls powered on as asked.

He felt a warmth once more calming him, and encouraging him to continue his task. Taking a deep breath, Keith cleared his head and began accessing the computer system within the Lion. His hands flew across the console to find both a wealth of knowledge about the planet, but nothing that he really wanted.

The planet they crashed on seemed to be quite remote. This would explain the tiny presence of the Galra. Scanning the countryside for other forms of life, he found sporadic small settlements throughout the massive jungles, but a much larger concentration near the Galra base of operations.

It didn't take a genius to realize it must be some kind of work camp. The Galra appeared to be mining something of value from either the world or its people. The low numbers of ships and larger weapons like they saw on other occupied worlds had him breathing a sigh of relief.

Turning the radar galaxy-wide, he tried to pick up on anything that wasn't Galra owned.

"I bet if we head out of the atmosphere, you'll naturally head for the castle, right? Isn't that what Blue Lion did? Your home is obviously the castle…"

Unfortunately, the lion gave no answer. Scratching his naked chest, Keith wondered if that would really happen. It just seemed too simple- his life was never that simple.

The cockpit in Black could easily hold both him and Shiro he noticed still thinking about taking off into space. From the looks of it, he could even strap an injured person to a pull-down seat behind the pilot's spot.

"If you'll let me fly, right? I mean, I understand you not, but if we absolutely need to… I don't think Shiro will be able to fly…" Keith stopped.

Red Lion brought forth one of the bigger challenges.

 _If, and it's still a big if, I can fly you, do I leave Red here, and we come back for him later? Would I be able to pull him long or maybe recharge the batteries a bit?_ Still, no answers came.

"I think it best to make sure Shiro's better before we go off into the unknown. I don't want to even think about meeting with trouble and having him out of commission. Can you hold off leaving this place for a bit Black?" Keith inquired as he shut down the sensors after doing a quick scan of their immediate area.

"Before my body gives out completely," he huffed out feeling his arm throbbing and his legs screaming to stay sitting. "Gotta get us some water and then start a fire, no sense of wasting our already limited power with lighting up the place and using up the limited supplies we've got in here."

Pushing himself up, he slumped on the console for a brief moment, putting most of his weight on his good arm.

 _I can do this. I have to do this… for Shiro. It's my turn to be there for him._

* * *

As darkness covered the landscape, Keith finally allowed himself to lean back against one of the lion's legs. Looking over to where Shiro rested, it appeared as though his fever lessened and his cries seemed to diminish. Keith prayed that those two events meant positive things for his friend.

He had done everything possible to try and ease the man's pain and make him comfortable. Fashioning a bed of sorts out of the two blankets he found in the cockpit, as well as a small covering out of large leaves from the trees, Keith smiled pleased at his work. A small fire burned as well allowing the water he got from the stream to boil - he was not going to take any chances.

Sighing, he let the exhaustion hit him. The throbbing in his shoulder now felt nearly numb, as he popped one of the pills found in the kit. That was a blessing.

Had that pain continued, he wasn't sure how much of a success today would have been. As much as Shiro needed to get better, he needed to make sure his arm would not cause issues when they left the planet or more bad luck followed them.

Also, it wouldn't hurt to have Shiro conscious and able to advise Keith on their best course of action.

Turning his attention to the night's sky, or what little he could see from the canopy of trees, Keith took in a deep breath of the crisp, clean air. The sounds of nature, while very different from his little house in the desert, had him almost relaxing. Had Shiro simply been sleeping, he might have allowed himself to really take it easy; however as it was, his mind still continued to go a mile a minute, even if his body finally got a reprieve. There was just a lot on his mind and falling asleep now might not be such a great idea.

"I hope the others are having an easier go of this thrown across the universe thing," Keith smiled thinking of the team. Knowing Lance, that man would be hitting on anything with two legs and pretty eyes.

 _How he can openly flirt with anyone is unnerving,_ Keith shook his head thinking back on all the times he witnessed Lance's brazen attempts to impress the opposite sex. Even before they became friends... acquaintances... whatever they were at the moment, in the Garrison Lance had a reputation.

Hunk would be scrounging for food no couldn't deny that the meals prepared by the large man tasted infinitely better than Coran's options, but still technology and food were Hunk's calling... and maybe Shea. Keith smiled.

Pidge, or Katie, he wasn't sure what the youngest of their crew would be doing. Truth be told he knew the least about the tech-savvy girl.

At Garrison, he had met Hunk and Lance at least once... or heard stories about the cargo pilot and the space mechanic who had motion sickness. Granted, he wasn't exactly the easiest person to make friends with, and until Shiro, he never really wanted any. By the time he was on the way out with the school, Pidge must have just begun her mission. From what he knew of the young woman, he figured she would be trying to build a better radio signal to find the others.

 _I hope you can do it girl, because we certainly need all the help we can get about now,_ he mused.

That left the two Arusians and handful of space mice of the team. Coran and Allura would have the ship up and running as soon as they could. Coran with his strange phrases could bounce back from just about anything and be cheery. It made Keith feel awkward for someone to be that energetic... all the time.

Allura... just thinking about her caused the strange feelings to start once more. He didn't know what to think about the Princess that had caught his attention. She too could be endlessly optimistic and he was willing to bet money that this massive set back would not dampen her spirits. There was just so much he didn't know about their royal benefactor of sorts.

 _Got to stay positive. The castle was able to find the lions once before, they can do it again... and the lions will know how to find the castle as well. It will all work out._

The lions, again in theory, should know how to get back home - no matter where the castle was located. They just needed to get up in space and not find trouble.

 _Staying out of trouble,_ Keith laughed. It sounded so simple, and yet with the events of the last month, it seemed nearly impossible. Trouble found them repeatedly.

Slowly his eyelids drooped as sleep finally won the battle over his mind. He wanted to stay awake longer and watch over the camp, but after a day like the one he had eventually his body would call it quits.

"Your turn big guy," Keith yawned as he spoke to the Black Lion, "You let me know if something is up, will ya?"

* * *

The low rumble of the lion, whose leg he leaned against, woke him from his much-needed slumber. Instantly, Keith went on the alert. His eyes flew open, and his hand went for his dagger.

"We got some visitors?" Keith whispered low to the lion, trying to get his eyes accustomed to the darkness.

A further rumble had Keith feeling that the noise was an affirmative reply. Moving to Shiro's side, Keith made sure to cover his friend and dump the remaining water on the smoldering fire. It was about that time when he started to hear the sounds of something off in the distance coming closer.

Crouching down, Keith looked around and found a good hiding spot in the rubble. Knowing that he wouldn't have time to drag Shiro, he used the leaves he gathered earlier to cover his partner before hiding, ready to pounce if needed.

As he crouched behind the large boulder, strange words and rustling of the thick underbrush sounded in his ears. Whoever they were, they certainly didn't know the art of stealth he thought as he tried to listen to the language they spoke.

Not even a minute later, several figures appeared near the top of the debris pile. Keith counted five jungle warriors with strange items as decoration around their wrists, neck, and waist. Their skin tone looked to be a golden tan, as simple garments covered their chest and hip area.

Their weapons were mixed- some a simple spear or knife and yet one of them had something that looked almost Galran.

 _Shit_ , Keith cursed silently. He did not need to be up against a gun when all he carried was his dagger.

Watching the group slide down and approach the Black Lion, he smiled at their startled reaction to the warning growl Black gave off. Not that he blamed them. The lions scared him sometimes on how powerful and advanced they were for being thousands of years old.

As a few of them continued towards Shiro's position, Keith began to plan his attack. The one with the gun or blaster would be the first target. He could deal with short range combat from the others.

His attention focused mainly on the group that he nearly found himself off guard when a presence came up from behind him. Jumping out, he dodged a strike from another one of the group. Not wanting to let that ruin his momentum, Keith made a lunge at the man with the Galran weapons first.

A roundhouse kick and punch combination had the man holding the gun on the ground, and the weapon fizzing with sparks, broken off to the side.

Not missing a beat, Keith continued to dodge swipes of a sword or spear from anothe of the group.

It wasn't long before Keith realized that his primary opponent came in the form of a scrappy, but athletic woman. Her eyes twinkled a brilliant blue as she matched his moves quickly. Her dirty blonde hair sat high on her head, collected in two small buns and her pointed ears seemed sparkle with jewels.

Unfortunately, he realized that while he made easy work of the others, she had picked up on his injured shoulder. Her last series of hits honed in on that area too much for it to be a coincidence.

A powerful jab had Keith doubled over, holding his shoulder. He hissed in pain, as he realized that reinforcements had arrived and now several were uncovering Shiro.

The woman who stood ready to face his renewed efforts shouted to her men and gestured for them to stay out of the fight. Her eyes never left his, and he could tell she was now talking to him... well, trying to do so anyway.

Keith, unsure of what to do next, made one last ditch attempt to get the better of her- maybe he could use her as leverage and get into the lion.

The other fighter went down, with Keith tackling her to the ground. His blade went to her neck, as he put a knee on the small of her back, and pinning her down with his weight.

"You'll back the hell off, now!" Keith roared, knowing that they probably couldn't understand him either.

Pulling the dazed woman to her feet, Keith kept the blade in a threatening position at her neck and one arm at a slightly painful angle behind her back.

A series of laughs escaped her lips, as her men looked stunned and worried. Keith certainly was a mix of confusion and intrigue with this warrior.

And yet those thoughts went out of his mind as the woman pivoted like magic and twisted her body out of his grasp. A swift chop of her hand to the back of his neck and a swoop of her leg caused Keith to crumple to the ground.

"Shiro... no..." Keith called, the last thing he saw before passing out in the veil of darkness came with several people surrounding him and his friend.

* * *

 _And that is where I will leave you for this chapter. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying the story so far._

 _Thanks for the comments on the last chapter. I enjoy reading people's reaction to the latest round of plot bunnies running wild! Much appreciated._


	3. Lingering Darkness

_Welcome once more VLD fans. Lots of news coming out from New York Comic Con about our shared obsession. Sadly no new episodes, but some interesting images that seem to only feed the plot bunnies.  
_

 _Thanks again for joining me on my little story line to tide myself over till we get those sweet, sweet new episodes._

 _On with Chapter 3 we go!_

 **Lingering Darkness**

* * *

"The flowers in the field span out as far as the eye could see." A soft voice spoke to him, keeping him entranced in the image once more. While he could not see the woman's face clearly, he instantly recognized the speaker and that knowledge relaxed him.

The memory of her voice brought warmth, comfort, and a sanctuary that he retreated to when he felt most in need. And presently, his mind took him there, back to that time before the pain, before the loneliness.

"You would get lost, my dearest boy, among the plants- they grew so high," she continued painting the picture of the lush scene for the young, but a captive listener.

"Did you ever see it? The field of flowers?" His voice seemed to meld with his past self- merging to create a dual layer tone. The small child sat up in his bed excited to hear her response. With a smile, the female figure eased him back down and pulled the covers up.

"No, I haven't." She soothed him, stroking his wild black locks. "And neither has your father. It was lost to our family long, long ago. But if we remember it through our stories, we can always go there, in here." She touched his heart and head with her pointer finger. "Just the three of us, Keith."

"Do you have to go away again?" He asked looking up at the woman with black hair and dark eyes.

"Mommy and daddy have to do a job, sweetie. You know that, right?"

"For the Garrison? In space again?"

"Yes, love. That is what Space Explorers do."

"Will you find the flowers someday?"

"Maybe someday, but what about you?"

"Me?"

"I know that you'll be a good explorer when you get a bit older. You have your father's lucky dagger? Keep that with you and all will work out, my little pilot."

"But you're not coming back," he felt his adult-self interject, leaving the image of the boy and mother behind. "You never did after that."

The next sensation that hit him came in the form of incense wafting into his nose. The soft chants started shortly after that and cool cloth applied to his shoulder brought the swift end to the dream.

Without opening his eyes and reaching for whoever applied the cold cloth to his injury, Keith tried to take in his surroundings. Again, the smell hit his senses. It reminded him of some type of dried wood with the smoke hanging in the air.

One individual sat near him, applying what he hoped to be medicines to his shoulder as he laid on his stomach. The sheets beneath him felt soft and cool against his hot skin. The contrast of the cold cloth to his shoulder told him that while he was out, he must have developed a fever or the exposure to the elements had him over heated.

Whatever the case, it felt good.

The soothing sounds of a nearly melodic chant added to his moment of peace, and he felt tempted to allow himself to drift back to sleep. That was until a familiar voice screamed out in some kind of duress.

With lightning speed, he twisted and grabbed the hands of whoever sat near him. Using his weight, he pivoted them so that the shapely body of the woman from before now was on the bed, and he was on his feet. One knee when up to keep her subdued, while he assessed the situation.

The dimly lighted hut had a fire in the center with several sticks of incense burning. The dark red and black cloth went from the floor to a rounded peak with a small opening for the smoke to rise out. His eyes went to several figures across the space. Two men knelt trying to hold down a thrashing Shiro, who appeared to still be locked in his nightmares.

His momentary look at his friend once more cost him the upper hand, and the woman lifted her torso up, causing him to lose his footing on the damp grass at his feet.

Falling on his back, he cringed as the impact aggravated his shoulder and the woman sat on his chest, pinning his hands with her feet to the ground.

"I wouldn't try anything further; you may be a skilled warrior, but with your shoulder so messed up, and your friend in no condition to move, what can you really do?"

His dark eyes went wide as he understood the words that came from her lips. The woman with the two high buns of golden hair and those piercing blue eyes looked down at him with a look that told him to heed her words.

Keith let out a deep sigh and scowled up at her.

"Not the friendly type are we?" She asked leaning down and taking a better look at her captive. Keith watched her movements and honestly didn't know what to expect. "If you don't want my very anxious friends there to think you and your giant robots are enemies, I would strongly recommend you lay back and let me set your shoulder."

Not saying a word, he looked over towards the door, where several more men entered as Shiro's screams continued. His attention when back to his friend, worry crossing his face.

"Good boy," she smiled as she released his hands, but remained sitting on his stomach. With her roughly calloused fingers, she grabbed his chin and turned his face so that he was looking at her.

"Now, I don't think you're a threat to us, but our people have suffered great loss from the previous visitors and now masters of this planet. I know for a fact that those monsters came here looking for a mythical beast, a robot lion, just like the two that are now sitting in our jungle."

Keith tried not to show any emotion as the woman continued to speak.

"You don't look Galran… my compatriots grew slightly concerned about your origins after seeing you with this." She told him as she reached back and pulled out his dagger.

"Ah, a reaction, so it is yours." Keith's eyes narrowed and watched her as she drew the blade out and let the metal reflect the light from the fire.

A frown painted her tanned skin as the man beneath her still refused to speak.

"It is a Galran blade- a ceremonial one that signifies a high rank or honor. This here," she pointed to a marking that Keith had spent years trying to understand, "an old crest, from a family long since extinct."

Snapping the blade back into the sheath, she leaned in close to Keith's face, seriously looking over his features.

"So you going to tell me why you have a Galran dagger or why two of the five legendary lions of Voltron are here on Baltaran?"

Licking his parched lips, Keith's mind raced with a jumble of thoughts. Her words echoed as his own thoughts added to the mess- the revelation of his blade's origins, what that meant or could mean.

A slap to his face got him to focus back on the woman above him.

"How do you know so much about my dagger?" He blinked looking up at her, his voice cracked from non-use.

"Ah, he speaks. So care to enlighten me on your purpose here first? Are you friend or foe?" The woman placed the sheathed dagger up against his neck.

"My name is Keith Kogane. That dagger is the last memento of my parents. It's been in my family for generations. I don't know much more than that. We're no friends of the Galran Empire, my friend and I are part of the Voltron Force."

A large smile replaced the stern expression on her face at that revelation. Standing up in a swift motion, the female warrior reached down her hand, offering it to a still stunned Keith.

"Welcome then, Keith of the Voltron Force, you are among friends." The tone and feel of the room relaxed as he reached up and took the outstretched arm. Her strong grip once more showed him that she was a force to be reckoned with.

"I am Kaya, my family held the role of chieftains for our people before the Galran forces arrived. We've been attacked, terrorized and enslaved by Zarkon's forces for long before I was born. Now we try to keep one step ahead of them and have retreated to the jungle to keep us safe."

A loud groan from the other side of the room had them both stop their conversation and look over at Shiro.

"Your friend is deeply troubled," her brow furrowed as she watched a few of their healers apply a salve to his wounds.

"Shiro was injured in the past by Zarkon. I'm not sure what happened to him before we landed here, but he's been stuck in a nightmare."

"You both suffer from the darkness." Her tone sounded so concerned for the two of them that he was drawn back to look at her.

"Will that help? Whatever that goop is?"

"Our healers will do what they can, but I doubt any cream we apply to his physical wounds will do little to ease his inner torment. As for you," she stopped and motioned for the black haired man to sit back down on the bed.

With a hesitant glance, he did as told and sat.

"Lay on your stomach once more." The command came, and he once more followed, not quite sure what her medicine could do. She retrieved a bowl of the same cream and sat near him on the bed. Gently massaging the tense muscles in his back, Keith felt himself relaxing more and more. The throbbing in his shoulder slowly decreased. With the pain gone, the touch of her fingers left a tingling sensation, one that he hadn't felt ever before.

"That should about do it." Her voice broke the silence of the room. "I'm wrapping the shoulder as well, and I strongly recommend not overtaxing yourself again."

Once Kaya completed her work, Keith sat up and looked over to the woman sitting at his side.

"Thank you," he let out. "And sorry for… you know, hitting you."

"Don't worry about it. I have to say that it was a good fight, maybe once you are well again, we can spare for real."

"I honestly don't think I'll be here for long. I have to get us," Keith nodded over at his friend, who only now looked to be peacefully sleeping, "off this planet and back to our other teammates."

"You have the other robot lions then? And you can form Voltron?" Her voice gave away her excitement at the prospect of the legendary defender of the universe being real.

"Well, it appears Zarkon threw us all for a loop. The team is kind of split up at the moment."

"Split up?"

"We fell through a cursed wormhole of some sorts…I have no idea how Zarkon did it or if it was even him."

"If magic is involved, it would be that witch's doing," she interrupted as she began rubbing a nasty looking scar on her arm. Keith didn't have to ask, he knew she received that mark from this witch and it must have been a horrific event from the look on her face. It was then that he noticed the scar continued on her abdomen as well. The tannish fabric covered her chest in a cropped like shirt, adorned by tribal jewelry. The shorts she also wore sat low on her curvy hips and had a piece of the same colored fabric over the front, making it look like a false skirt.

The wound looked to be life threatening back when she got it, and Keith gave her a look of understanding before he continued to speak.

"Scars just remind us of how much we've survived."

"By the looks of your back, it appears you also have faced much in your short years." Keith sighed at her comment. _More than I let on,_ he thought as he shrugged, not liking others to see the marks he carried since his years at the Garrison's orphanage.

"So now we're here on a planet in a galaxy I don't know where…"

"You are on Baltaran, a planet that is on the far side of the Denublian Galaxy if that helps."

"I'm going to have to take a longer look at the star maps in the Black Lion and figure out exactly where we are because neither of those names mean anything to me." Keith rubbed his face, trying to figure out his next steps.

"I think you need to rest up a bit. You're more exhausted then you know."

"Maybe, but I know for a fact that the longer we wait here, the more likely that those Zarkon forces sitting on the other side of the planet come looking for the two giant objects that fell from the sky."

"I have our scouts in the jungles around your ships. No one will come near without us knowing. Now I would insist that you rest. Your friend will need more help then you know..."

* * *

Keith woke once more, sitting straight up. A dry cloth fell from his head and onto his lap as he took in the strange hut. Looking over towards Shiro, the older man seemed to find a more restful sleep. The thrashing came in sight movements of his head and tightening of his fists.

The younger paladin stood and walked over to his friend. The fever he once suffered from had lessened, as the touch of his skin didn't bring the same heat as before. Keith found a basin of water near the bedside and wet the cloth that cooled his own brow and applied to Shiro's head.

The chanting of the men no longer filled the silence where they rested, nor was the woman that had twice now shown her fighting capabilities. She held a great deal of answers; possibly ones that he needed.

Trusting that Shiro would continue his sleep, Keith turned and walked towards the door. The sunshine that greeted him had his eyes squinting and adjusting to the brightness for a brief moment. His hand went up to shield his face, and it was then that he noticed his shoulder no longer hurt.

The shock that he had quickly went away as he looked at his surroundings. Before him, several similar dome-like huts lined each side of a short pathway, maybe fifteen all together. Outside of them, several warriors stood wearing similar garb to those who found them near the Black Lion.

The men and woman noticed him as he exited the hut and took in the area. Keith instantly wished he had his bayard or something to offer him a bit of security. They looked at him with eyes of doubt, some of fear, and others yet with something he almost felt was hope. Without warning, several children ran by him, nearly catching his legs and sending him tumbling as well. Keith quickly jumped out of their way, a slight scowl on his face. For a brief moment, he almost envied those boys as they ran around without a care. How he had not been given many opportunities to do the same in his childhood.

"You'll have to forgive them," her voice came to his ears and Keith's thoughts of the past vanished. "They don't get many chances to be free as all children should be, we've managed to elude the parties of slave collectors for some time. And now with your arrival, some feel you are the saviors we've waited for."

Keith looked towards Kaya with a slightly questioning expression.

"Some saviors we are at the moment," he scoffed as he stretched out his arm, finding it once more in working order.

"You should not belittle yourself. Your past may be filled with doubts and others questioning your abilities, but there is an inner strength in you."

Keith once more slightly doubted her words, but found them comforting. His eyes scanned her slightly changed appearance. Instead of the tube top and skort outfit, she now wore a long dress with high slits up the sides. The fabric was a light cloth of a red hue, and was made brighter against her tanned skin. The strapless dress hung to her curves, and he had a hard time denying that she was stunning. His eyes caught sight of her ears once more. The gems that adorned the thin and pointed feature mesmerized him. His staring must have been noticed as Kaya touched her ears and blushed.

"If you can believe, up until a few months ago, I'd have never been off my home planet. I'm still not used to knowing that there are all these planets and all these different types of people." His hands went up to touch his own ears, as he continued. "I suppose we look just as strange."

"Strange, yes," she smiled as she reached out to touch one of his ears.

"But still the only one who is gifted with the power to help us."

"We'll... well, I'll do what I can," he said taking her hand off his ear and stepping back from looking at her in the eyes. "Thank you for helping us."

"My recommendation of resting seemed to work well for you," her blue eyes scanned his still naked chest.

"Yeah, but... Shiro..."

"Your friend is still deeply troubled. We've only been able to give him momentary peace from it." She looked towards the hut where Shiro still dealt with his tormentors in his mind.

"Isn't there some way to help him?"

"His battle is in his mind, one that is darker then even you can comprehend. Would you willingly enter that battle for him?"

Keith didn't hesitate, his heart and his mind both knowing he would do anything for Shiro.

"What must I do?"

* * *

Sitting at the table with several of the pointed eared warriors, he listened to their stories of struggles, of battles fought to rid themselves of Zarkon and of the losses they suffered.

Keith once more felt the burning of hatred for that evil race in the pit of his stomach.

All the while, his mind raced with mixed feelings of all he discovered over the course of the last day. He learned much from these people who took him in as one of their own. The shirt covering his back and the clean pants they provided looked quite different from his normal attire, but while his were being cleaned, they would do.

His appetite seemed to lessen the more he thought of what these people knew about his dagger, what that possibly meant for his family origins and the task at hand. In order to save Shiro from his internal terrors, he would have to not only face his own but fight for Shiro in some kind of mental arena. It sounded like some hocus pocus kind of thing time him, but he was not about to vocally question their customs.

The knowledge that these people, the Baltarans, had a long history of healing mental afflictions, back before the likes of Zarkon came, eased some of his doubts. Kaya and the high council that he now shared a table with seemed confident that he could save his friend. Keith needed to do something, and waiting was not an option.

 _I bet the rest of the team are already back at the castle or at least doing something to find everyone. I need to get Shiro up and back in charge of his mind. Even if that means trying something as out there as projecting myself into our minds, if it will get Shiro up and well, I have to. He'd do the same for me. He has done so much for me._

"You need to eat," one of the men encouraged.

Another handed him a cup of an odd smelling liquid and motioned for him to drink.

"You will need that," Kaya instructed as she gathered a plate of strange foods and place it before him.

"I'm sorry, but can you tell me again how exactly I will get into Shiro's mind and back?" Keith asked as he took the cup and began to drink.

The liquid burnt as it went down his throat. And the substance, what he thought to be some kind of alcohol, hit almost instantly.

"Well, that is step one," a man half laughed as Keith set the cup down and made a face telling of the strength of the drink.

"Once we have opened up your mind by relaxing your physical being, you are able to begin the jump. Don't worry. We will watch over you both on this side, but be careful, don't get sucked up into the images. They are only shadows of the past and perhaps, even potential futures. You have to remember that and overcome them. Then you must guide Shiro out of his nightmares as well."

Keith couldn't be sure what happened next to him as the liquid began to send the room spinning. He felt quite out of his mind, or maybe only an observer as several men carried him back to the hut. The hint of incense hit his nostrils as his body continued to feel numb and weightless. Chanting once more filled the air and he began to see images flash before him as his head went from side to side trying to take in his surroundings better.

"Just relax, Keith." Her voice told him as she stroked his hair. "Let the images come, you have the strength to defeat all your enemies." Wet fingers traced patterns on his face and now exposed chest. Turning his head to the side, he saw another drawing on Shiro's face with a black substance as well.

"You are a born leader Keith, use that power. Your time is now."

Keith didn't understand how this woman knew him and his so-called hidden powers, but part of him knew to trust her.

His eyes drooped, and the world went black.

* * *

 _And with that, we will have to wait to see what is ahead for our two heroes. Shiro and Keith both have a lot of scars to deal with and you all know we need five pilots for form Voltron- what will happen in the future? Stay tuned and we'll find out together!_


	4. Leading the Charge

_Wow, sorry for the long delay. I had meant to get this story done before the second season came out, and then that got pushed back to shortly after the season came out… and then more delays. A weird combo of fatigue and just not wanting to type. Somehow, I got those issues under check, and well, the next chapter is done- finally!_

 _Since this is my version of how season two should have started, I made Keith and Shiro's story a bit more epic. Thanks for putting up with the lateness, enjoy!_

* * *

Expectations of what came ahead of him remained vague.

The unknown of the blackness worried him, and the mere concept of traveling in dreams from his mind to Shiro's sounded way beyond anything possible. That was until he remembered he followed a hunch into the desert and started to pilot a giant mechanical, magical lion against aliens.

' _Well, add another thing to exceeding what I thought was possible.'_ Looking around the humorous musing ended as he recognized the hauntingly familiar landscape before him.

The courtyard did not bring back fond memories. The Garrison crest hung near the entrance to the main building of the Garrison run youth housing and orphanage. Keith had resided there for several years after his parents' disappearance.

"So, I get to deal with this particular memory?" He asked and waited for a response from whatever gods had chosen this torment. With a deep breath, his steps picked up the pace towards where he knew the headmaster would be… in that office.

 _'Kaya said I need to conquer my demons before I can get to Shiro… Shiro needs me, so I better get this done. Besides, I escaped that asshole once before.'_

As the young man confidently strode towards the demons of his past, the sounds of happy shouting echoed in his ears. While other children found peace within these walls, he found himself singled out for hell. He knew exactly what he was about to face. As he drew nearer, his mouth began to dry, no matter how confident, or how many times he replayed this, the power that man still held… it was time to break himself of it.

Walking up the steps and away from the sounds of the happy children, he stood in front of the ominous doors. The phantom pains on his back throbbed as he put his hand on the frame, feeling the swipes of a solid cane connecting with the boy inside the room.

' _No more…_ ' He thought as he threw open the doors. The perspective of the memory shifted, and he found himself kneeling on the floor, hands over his head, trying to protect himself from the wrath of his supposed protector.

Looking up at the military man, Keith watched as the eyes on him twisted from the black that he remembered, to a ghastly red. It was then that the pain increased and Keith swayed as the darkness of the memory started to seep into him.

"You will amount to nothing," the words echoed around him. "You bring death wherever you go, don't you? Cursed child. The only ones that could ever love you are gone forever! How dare you blame the Garrison for their failure, that damn family curse! Ungrateful, worthless mutt." A bout of nausea hit the young paladin, but something deep inside welled up not wanting to fail his friend, his team.

"This isn't real anymore," Keith yelled out, trying to stand up and fight back. "I'm not that little boy unable to break free of you and your lies!"

The weight in his arms and legs kept him from rising to his feet and overpowering his tormentor.

"Cursed! Unloved! Unwanted!"

Those words assaulted him on top of the physical pain.

"Your parents left, Shiro left you, they all think you are weak. You'll never be fit to save anyone. You let them all die." A voice whispered in his ears.

"It wasn't me… I didn't cause anyone's death. And the team… they came back. I wasn't dead weight. I… I know what it takes to lead if needed…" He hissed through the pain. Memories of him acting rashly with the team came to mind; he had let Shiro down several times allowing Lance to aggravate him. Not to mention going off and fighting against Zarkon when the others might have used his help.

"I will do better in the future. I will show you and the world that I am not that eight-year-old boy afraid anymore! I am not afraid!"

Pushing through the pain, Keith's willpower to aid not only his friends, but others like Kaya, Shay, and more out there provided him the strength to fight.

As the cane came downwards about to strike his already bleeding back, Keith's hand intercepted it. The red eyes of the headmaster looked shocked as his once victim pushed back.

"You were supposed to watch over those in your care! Not some crusade to punish those you disliked… I should have stood up to you and rejected your words long ago!"

Standing at full height, Keith grabbed the cane from the other man's arms and snapped it across his knee.

"You're power ends now. I am worthy of family, of trust, and I am not cursed!"

Before he could land a punch on the older man's face, the vision quickly faded. Instead of the evil headmaster of his nightmares, a cloaked figure emerged with a sinister cackle echoing around him.

"You could have been our greatest creation," the same figure's voice shrieked in a tone that sounded female and old.

"Ah! No, get away!" Shiro's voice came clearly in his ear. Turning towards the sound, Keith knew he had to find his friend soon.

"You'll never escape," another voice added.

"We're under attack, Shiro, you have to save us!"

"Enjoy the last minutes of your life human, you may have been a champion in the last tournament, but I will drink your blood soon enough."

"Help, no! Champion! Save us!"

"It's impossible, we can't make it," and more voices of others added to the jumble that was becoming Shiro's mental state.

' _No wonder he's been in pain,_ ' Keith thought trying to assess his options. Finding Shiro's voice in the mess of pleas and taunts seemed impossible. 'All the voices would drive me insane too…'

"Shiro!" The younger man bellowed in the darkness, hoping to connect with his mentor. "Shiro! It's me! Keith!"

"I found this boy today. Keith was his name. Keith Kogane. I barely knew his father, but I couldn't just leave the poor kid where I found him… he needs a home. A family… but what do I know about raising a child? I'd just mess it all up…"

That was Shiro, Keith knew it and once more pivoted towards the direction of the voice. He needed to find Shiro and get them both out of here.

"He's got so much anger in him; this is not working… I can't… I can't get through to him."

Keith stopped in the void, breathing heavily from trying to run towards the sound of his friend's voice.

"No Shiro, you did just fine! You got through to me; I just didn't listen is all. I learned control."

"I failed him. I should have left him there to be adopted by a real family. What was I thinking taking him and then letting him enroll into the Garrison…"

"You've got to listen to me Shiro; you didn't fail. You saved me! Damn, this isn't working. How can I find you? We can't stay here any longer. The others need us." Keith ran a hand through his hair, still not seeing anything surrounding him.

' _Stay centered,_ ' he reminded himself and took a deep breath.

"I'm a monster… I've killed… so many… failed so many…" It was Shiro's voice again, getting weaker by the minute.

"You humans don't stand a chance against the might of the Galra Empire," the female voice once more cackled, haunting both of their minds. The memory of the fight on the Galra vessel, where Keith nearly lost his life against the magic of the same witch came to his mind.

"You'll never harness the true power of Voltron, accept defeat and subjugation by the superior race," the voice continued.

"Never!" Keith yelled, taking enough of the verbal taunting. "We've proven to be worthy of the lions. Shiro! You are the Black Lion's paladin! You have to believe that. He's out there, can't you hear the call, feel the bond?" the younger man closed his eyes, feeling connected to the Red Lion even from a far distance. It was an odd sensation, but he could tell it was there and stronger than the pull to find the Blue Lion on Earth all those months ago.

Taking a deep breath, he noticed a new presence as well. The overwhelming power of another force passed through him, and Keith could not help but shiver.

"Black Lion is with us, Shiro. He wouldn't give up on you, and he won't let you lose to Zarkon or these tainted dreams."

Opening his eyes, he felt a burning inside him.

"I won't let my inner demons stop me from what I was meant to do… and I won't allow you to either. I know you are in here Shiro. Hear my voice! You will NEVER fail me or anyone else! You are the one who brought our team together and have Zarkon on the run! You saved me and kept me alive for so many years. I am now ready to be a man Shiro… you taught me how to be a great man!"

His fists balled and shook with a rage that was controlled and well directed.

"Face me, you witch! You have not place here in Shiro's mind. Come out and fight. Shiro and I can face you!"

"You think you can defeat me, tiny paladin? I hold so much power over your friend in this realm."

"Not anymore!" Keith reached for his bayard, and a sword of light erupted. Lunging toward the voice, he felt the blade connect and slice through the dark body of his enemy.

A shriek of pain echoed in the black and then the mass dissolved into the air.

"You got a lucky hit in there human," she spoke, and Keith narrowly dodged a claw-like hand that materialized to his left.

"It's not luck," he panted as he rolled away from her and got back on his feet. "I will win because I have to… I have to for Allura and those who have been harmed because of you… for my teammates… for Shiro… and most of all, for myself!"

Another swing of his sword and another direct hit on the magic user.

"Shiro! You have to fight her too!" Keith called out for his friend to appear after the witch's counter attack connected this time and Keith went flying backward.

His injuries from the crash seemed to reappear, and Keith suddenly felt frail.

"Shiro! I can't stay in here much longer… I think I'm being pulled back to my body… You have to fight! Shiro, fight her!"

* * *

A swift slap to his face had Keith opening his eyes and seeing nothing but a blur. It took a few seconds for reality to come back to center. While no longer bombarded by his enemy in the black abyss that was Shiro's mind, the vaguely familiar wall of the hut didn't bring much comfort.

' _What I wouldn't give to wake up in my bunk on the ship… or better yet, back home in the desert,_ ' Keith thought as his sight cleared and he took a deep, grounding breath.

"Good, you have woken up." The slight figure of Kaya appeared, worry in her eyes. "I feared you lost in your friend's nightmares."

"I…" Keith stopped and tried to remember what had happened. He recalled facing his tormentors and then… "Shiro."

Sitting up quickly and turning to look over at his friend, Keith felt slightly dizzy and could not help but lean on Kaya's frame for a moment.

"Careful, you went through a lot, but it appears you were successful." Her voice had his concern lessen somewhat. Pushing away from her supportive grip to look at his friend, he couldn't really tell much of a difference. His breathing seemed more relaxed, less burdened but Shiro was not waking up.

"Are you sure?" He voiced his nonbelief. "I remember fighting that witch. To be honest, it wasn't going so well when I began to feel the pain of my arm and head."

"You were being pulled back to this reality. One is not meant to stay in another's mind for long periods of time, especially for the untrained. You started to exhibit the same pained expression as your friend. I woke you before it fully caught you."

"But I never saw Shiro at all…"

"You didn't need to. He could tell you were there fighting for him. It was enough to draw him out."

"Do you know when he will wake?" Looking to the woman with the blue eyes and blonde hair, he waited for an answer.

"It is hard to tell. He will most likely wake up when his body is ready. The healers will tend to him. You have my word he will be well looked after." She said standing up and offering her hand for Keith to use. Placing his hand in hers, he got to his feet and stretched.

"We have more pressing matters. Come with me," she instructed as she walked towards the door and into the streets.

Keith felt confused. He didn't want to leave Shiro's side, and yet, he followed Kaya out of the room. Her tone told of something pressing and important. He knew that he owed these people a sizeable debt for assisting them this far. And if the Black Lion allowed him, he would see about liberating that slave camp on their planet.

The pair walked in silence through the small village. As they did, many of the children came up to the newcomer giving him smiles and quizzical looks. Keith took it all in stride, not one for being the center of attention.

 _'I guess I do look different_ ,' the thought came with a half-smile as he remembered how he reacted to seeing Allura and Coran for the first time.

The small crowd seems to dissipate from their sides as they near a hillside, still sheltered under the massive treetops. It wasn't until they were right up close and Kaya motioned to a well-hidden entrance that he figured this was anything special.

Entering the room, he found himself surrounded by crude, but well laid out maps covering the walls.

"I take it these aren't for decoration," he walked up to the symbol of the Galra Empire on the paper. The area looked to be an indicator of the forces occupying their planet.

While he continued to look at the planet's terrain and Galra force locations, he heard the footsteps of several others joining them in the cave.

"We wish to save our people and the others held at the slave camp." An older man spoke up.

"Kaya said that you and your friend came to us in giant lions… the Voltron lions, correct?"

All eyes went to Keith as he turned away from the wall drawings and faced Kaya and the group of four men. Their faces looked slightly skeptical yet hopeful. Keith couldn't blame them for the doubt, with one man injured, and him standing there in only half of his armor, they didn't look like the legendary defenders they normally were.

"Well yeah," Keith began but then stopped. Red Lion was not in any state to go running to a fight. "Red Lion is damaged. I don't think…"

"But there were two, wasn't there? A black one?" A gray-haired man asked looking to Kaya who took a step closer to Keith.

"Please, you must help us. Zarkon is planning to ship a cruiser full of people off the planet soon." She placed her hand on Keith's arm. "This is our only chance."

"I'm here to help however I can, but my lion is out of commission," Keith replied looking back to the map.

Kaya placed a hand on his shoulder and got his attention away from the marking on the wall.

"With a sigh, Keith knew the message that Kaya was trying to convey. With or without a lion, he could still be of assistance to these people.

"A lot of this will hinge on if Black Lion will allow me to fly, but if not, we'll just have to make a Plan B. Either way," he stopped and assessed the group, "we've got some planning to do."

* * *

Later the evening, Keith returned to the hut where Shiro slept. Sitting down next to his friend's side, Keith found relief in the peaceful look on the other man's face.

That brought him some hope. If Shiro woke up sometime soon, he would feel a lot better about this whole operation. It felt like they still had too many variables up in the air… namely Black Lion.

Somehow Keith had been able to enter and minimally use lion twice now. When the lion actually allowed him to pilot it towards the camp, he felt humbled and grateful. Yet there was something about being in charge of the massive beast that unnerved him.

"It's a lot different from Red," he spoke, not knowing if Shiro could hear him. "I felt almost like a fraud in there. I know you talk about control and the like… I know I'm not quite there. Maybe, I'm not quite ready to handle that power… but I've got to try."

Turning to look up through the hole in the roof where the smoke exited he sighed.

"I think Black approves of the mission," he stopped. "I think you would too. It is a bit risky, but Kaya and her people… they need our help now."

"Ke..ith?" A strained voice caught his attention and had him leaning over Shiro's bedside.

"Shiro? Come on buddy, you gotta wake up." He coaxed his friend.

Slowly the tired, dark orbs of the older man opened and blinked several times. Keith's breath seemed to stop in his throat as he looked down at his friend.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Keith?" Shiro groaned and moved his hand to cover his eyes. "What happened?" He asked as he rubbed his face and began to try to move his body.

"Hey, stay down; you took a nasty hit from that witch…" Keith stopped watching Shiro's confused facial expression. "Do you remember the fight? You came and got me, and then we were hit with whatever that dark force was…"

"And we crashed on a planet. The others?"

"Not here. Or at least Black can't find them on this planet." The younger man stood up and walked towards the weird looking gourd that contained water. Bringing it back, he offered the injured man a drink.

Taking a few sips of the water, Shiro let the information mull over in his brain.

"Black?"

"Yeah, Red is still out of commission."

"You were able to pilot the Black Lion?"

"Yeah, I can't explain it." Keith looked at his friend's worried eyes.

"You didn't feel anything… dark in there?" Shiro looked up at his young friend, wondering if the lion showed others what he felt inside.

"Um… no. It was stranger than Red, but nothing dark. Why?"

"Nothing." The man with the scar across the bridge of his nose sighed and let his eyes close. "We need to find the others."

"I know. I had hoped you would wake up. There's a plan that I think will get us access to an antenna. I'm no Hunk or Pidge, but I think I can use it to amplify the tracking scanners."

"What's the catch?" Shiro could tell from the look on Keth's face that there was another piece involved. He knew the younger man so very well.

"It's some catch, but the locals and I think we have a good chance at success."

"Locals?"

As Shiro asked the question, Kaya entered the room, now dressed in dark pants and a tight-shirted outfit. Her bright blonde hair was gathered up high on her head in a tight bun. The get up reminded Keith of a ninja-like suit, one that told him the others were getting ready for their strike.

"Kaya and her people helped us. They took care of your injury and… helped get us both back from our nightmares."

"You mean that voice really was you in my mind?" The shocked expression came as Keith looked to Kaya and then nodded.

"I can't explain it, but yeah. Somehow I got into your mind and had to deal with some of my own demons."

"In my dreams, I thought I saw you fighting the witch for me… thank you, Keith. You saved me."

"You'd do the same for me… besides, I doubt I actually did much." The younger man tried to undermine his assistance; Shiro had done so much more for him. It was the least he could do.

"Keith, don't say that. You were a great help."

"Keith, I'm sorry to interrupt, and it gladdens my soul to see your friend awake, but our fighters are ready." Kaya interrupted the moment by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What is the plan?" Shiro asked, wanting to be involved. Sitting up, his side throbbed, and he knew the fact that he would be grounded for any part of this operation.

"The plan for us, not you," Keith spoke giving his friend the once over, skeptical that Shiro could even get up, let along pilot Black. "We plan to hit the work camp on the far side of the planet. I'm going to take Black, if the lion lets me, and lead the assault on the main base at the same time."

"Sounds risky," Shiro nodded taking in the facts and intel the pair detailed him. It was a solid plan, and he felt proud once more on how far Keith could soar as a leader. "But I think you can handle it. And I know Black Lion will trust you as well."

"I'll be outside then, see you shortly," Kaya said as they all picked up on a few voices outside the hut.

"Shiro," Keith turned back about to ask his mentor to sit this round out. Before he could begin, Shiro began to speak.

"Keith, I know your plan will succeed. You're a great leader… a born leader. And if anything ever happens to me, I want you to lead the team."

"What are you talking about? You're fine Shiro. Yes, you've seen better days, but after I take over the antenna, we'll find the others, and you'll be back."

"Still, if something happens to me, I know you will make a great leader. Take care of that lion, and be careful." Shiro laid back down on the cot with Keith's urging.

"Nothing will happen to you, Shiro. I've got your back, always. You just rest."

Standing up, Keith walked towards the door with a renewed sense of confidence. Shiro believed in him, Kaya and these people did too. He needed to do this.

' _Black Lion, I'm not as good of a leader as Shiro is, but I'm going to try._ '

* * *

 _'So far, so good,_ ' Keith thought as he and Black Lion stayed low, hidden in the tree lines. The plan, if all went well, should have him at the base on the far end of the planet prior to the fighters reaching the smallest of the labor camps.

' _Take out the big ships first, then go for the communication array,'_ he repeated, trying to keep himself calm and composed. In the back of his mind, a slight fear that Black Lion might decide their mission or him unworthy of its assistance lingered.

"Shiro's going to get better soon, and then he'll be back in here big guy. So until then, I'd be grateful if you helped us shut down these bad guys and get a message out to the castle."

As if in response to his words, the giant lion he piloted gave off a faint roar in reassurance.

"You do have a lot more strength than Red. I guess that comes with being the main lion, but I'm not ready to have all this responsibility on me. But for now, how about we take down a Galra stronghold together?" His voice sounded almost excited as the sensors of the lion showed the outer perimeter of the base. "Three cruisers and a handful of transport ships… and that is our main target."

Zooming into the larger of the transport ships, Keith got a better sense at what he needed to do. It looked to be prepping for take-off, much like Kaya's people had said. No doubt it contained thousands of prisoners about to be shuttled off to a horrible fate.

"Not today, and not while I can do something about it," Keith vowed as he glanced at the console and found his partners arriving at their target some distance away.

Gripping the handles of the controls, Keith took in a deep breath. Narrowing his eyes, he let out the breath and with his command, Black Lion pounced out of the tree line.

As he flew at the base, he expected instant opposition; it wasn't until he had begun firing the laser from Black's mouth cannon and disabled the transport ship that the others came to life.

Several fighter ships took to the sky and kept Keith on his toes as he moved to finish off the cruisers before they brought real trouble.

The ease of slicing through the ship's hulls and swatting the fighter ships out of the sky surpassed his expectations. Black Lion was the epitome of a war machine.

' _I am glad you're on our side Black,_ ' he thought as he used the long tail to get rid of an annoying ship following him.

Flying slightly above the base, he surveyed the destruction. Dodging a few more laser blasts his way, he turned Black Lion around and dove straight for the large cannon on the base's roof.

Smiling, he noticed the large satellite looking relay.

"Phase two my friend." Keith grinned as he took the lion in for a landing. "You hang tight, I'm going to power up this baby."

Keith, back in his red paladin armor with his bayard at the ready, left the cockpit and touched down on the roof. Moving swiftly he ripped open the access panel on the side of the array.

"I sure wish Pidge were here," he cursed looking at all the wires. "This looks more complicated than building a speeder in the desert. But no time like the present to try."

Pulling a few wires and typing into the control panel that he still didn't understand how or why it allowed him access, he got the large communication spire to move.

"Let's hope the Princess and Coran are listening to the galaxy radio. Otherwise, we're going to have to get comfy here." Stepping back, Keith looked up at Black Lion just as another round of fighters appeared.

"Shit, they're regrouping!" He hissed as he rolled out of the way of a few well-aimed rounds of fire. Pivoting himself back on his feet, he sprinted the length of the roof and once more found shelter in the cockpit of Black Lion.

"I knew that was too easy," he muttered as Black soared once more in the air. The two crippled cruisers seemed to finally get the ability to launch their smaller fighters, and the one cruiser that took off into the atmosphere seemed to find its courage and came back.

"I've seen you handle more than this," Keith furrowed his brows, not liking the impact from some of the enemy fire. "Oh, not you don't!"

The still active cruiser's trajectory appeared to be heading away from Black Lion and towards what Keith could only assume were the fighters at the camp. The strategy was sound- the land forces would be an easier target.

Before he could intercept the cruiser, the battered forces that remained at the main base all converged on him, pinning the Balck Lion in one spot.

"Shit!" Keith cursed as he felt the firepower hitting his lion. "This is making movement hard. I've got to get to Kaya's people before that ship does."

Pumping the controls, Keith hoped to shake off the smaller drone ships but had little success. Deep in his mind, negative fears began swelling. The words of his headmaster once more threatened to take over.

 _'NO, I can do this. It's just a little setback. Shiro trusted me. Black Lion trusted me. I can't let them or Kaya's people down._ '

The feeling of righteous anger swirled with that thought. Not this planet, not while he was here.

' _You fight like a Galra, solider._ ' That was Zarkon's voice, and it didn't feel like a memory… but there was no way that evil man knew where he was or what he was doing.

"No, I fight like a paladin of Voltron!" Keith screamed as he pushed Black to move. Breaking free from the swarm, Keith took Black Lion up into the sky. The fighters, quick to follow.

As he began to fly after the cruiser, a familiar swirl of light came from the upper atmosphere. A hopeful smirk danced across Keith's face as he saw the castle coming out the wormhole, laser firing at the Galra cruiser ahead.

"You see that Black, the cavalry has arrived!" Keith cheered as he led the Lion to fly upwards and then drop back behind the group of fighters.

When the castle opened a video communication link with the Black Lion, Keith smiled shyly at the confused faces of Coran, Pidge, and the Princess.

"Keith!I thought I patched into Black Lion's com," A puzzled Coran scratched at his mustache.

"You did," Keith gave a slight smile. "Boy am I glad to see you all."

"Keith, you're flying Black Lion? Where's Shiro? And Red?" Allura's eyes, while relieved to see him held so many questions.

"It's a long story, and I'll tell you all later. First, we have got to stop that cruiser from attacking the prisoner camp, and getting these pesky fighters off my tail would also be a good thing." He swore slightly after feeling the impact from another good hit.

"Black will never let me fly him if I get him all dented." He hissed.

"Right, Green Lion coming out to help!" Pidge nodded and left the view of the screen.

* * *

The combined forces of the Castle, Black and Green lions made short work of the remaining Galra forces.

"There's a clearing near the camp," Keith began to instruct the castle on where to land. "I'll meet you all there."

"Rodger that Keith," Coran said as he closed the communication link and began the landing sequence.

Leaning back into the pilot's chair, Keith finally enjoyed a moment of peace in the cockpit.

"We did it Black, thank you. Red would have done his best, but I don't think we would have had enough power to take all those direct hits." The lion seemed to understand, and a rumble came from the beast's throat. "I promise to fit any scratches once we get back to the castle. Hunk will probably have my hide as well. He seems to take pride in making sure all the lions are in tip-top shape."

Landing first, Keith exited the lion's mouth as Pidge, and the Castle also touched down on the planet's surface.

He took off his helmet and allowed the freedom he felt hit him like a breeze. The planet was celebrating. All around him, families found each other once more, and the remnants of the Galra troops surrendered.

His eyes went to the figures approaching him from the castle's entrance. He couldn't help a smile grow as he found them all to be unharmed, especially the Princess. She too had a similar hint of a smile as they approached.

As he straightened and started to wave, a concerned look took over her features. Before he knew what happened, two arms wrapped around his frame and held him tight.

* * *

 _I'll leave that chapter there and promise to have the next one up soon. I'm going to be traveling for work a lot, so that means long plane rides. Those are perfect for writing and letting the plot bunnies free once more._

 _Thanks for the patience and sorry again for the delays!_


	5. Growing Bonds

_Chapter 5 – Growing Bonds  
_

 _And we're back again for the next chapter. Normally with traveling a lot with work would have meant this getting written faster, but for some reason this semester did a number on my down time. Anyway, thanks for stopping by once more and for being patient! I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

The frustration of just recently escaping a never-ending wormhole and the fact that four of the Lions remained missing had Allura sitting on the raised control platform, her head in her hands.

 _'How can all this be happening?'_ She wondered, trying hard not to let the tears swell in her tired eyes. Things had looked so promising; so much hope had risen in her heart when the five paladins from Earth arrived. They had come very far in their journey as a team, all of them, her included.

"Princess?" The young voice of the Green Pilot got her to look up.

"Pidge, you were saying something?" Allura tried to keep her weariness out of her response, but the other female member of the crew saw straight through it.

"I haven't been able to find the others yet. I created an algorithm that should pick up their trace signals… eventually. Maybe we should take a moment and get some rest."

"Thanks, Pidge, but I don't think I could rest, even if I wanted." She let a long sigh escape her lips as the techie took a seat next to her.

"Yeah, it's been a crazy few days, huh?" Pushing her glasses back up, Pidge focused on the star map up on the large screen. "But you know if you could successfully find me, we'll find the others. Shiro, Hunk and Keith, they'll find a way to connect with us." Then the younger teen stopped and chuckled a bit. "Let's hope Lance is with one of the others so that he doesn't end up flirting with some pretty alien."

That got Allura's foul mood to lift slightly. A chuckle escaped her lips at the thought of Lance's annoying Cassanova routine directed at another for a change.

"Are most Earth men like that? I can't really tell since I've only known four."

"No, thankfully most men aren't nearly as infuriating as him."

"That's a relief. I can't seem to imagine Hunk, Shiro or Keith being like him at all."

That got Pidge to laugh. The three others certainly did not share Lance's particular vice. While the population of overly passionate men in the academy certainly existed, Lance took things to the extreme at times.

"Was he that bad back on Earth? Please assure me that Earth women don't like that sort of clamor." The older woman asked as the two stopped their momentary giggle fit.

"Ugh," Pidge shook her head in disgust. "He's never been very lucky finding people who appreciate his flair for the dramatic. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop him… at all. You should have seen him back at the Garrison. Pathetic."

"That bad?"

"Worse than you could imagine. Oh, man, Hunk tells a hilarious story about one time a third-year blonde had her eyes on Keith. Now, I wasn't there yet, and this was when Keith was the top fighter pilot. Before he up and quit…"

Allura's worries seemed to melt away for the moment as she turned to look at her comrade, excited to hear more about the group. To be honest, the stories shared so far during their down time always amused her greatly. And deep down, the thought of learning more about the quiet loner of the group brightened her spirits.

"Hunk said that Lance had been eyeing the same girl for the longest time. He went out of his way to get her attention, tried to bring her presents, all the lines he's said to you and then some. It sounded pathetic how strong he went after her. She wouldn't give him the time of day, but apparently, since Keith was so good, they put him in with some of the third year classes. This girl took a liking to him," Pidge kind laughed at that thought. "I guess he didn't mind it either."

"What's funny about that?" Allura questioned trying to picture a younger version of the group at the academy.

"I just can't imagine Keith flirting with women, I mean, he's ok looking and all, but it's just weird…" A slight blush came to Pidge's face thinking about her new comrade in a new way.

"So what did he do? Keith that is?" She tried to not sound so interested.

"I guess he might have gone out on a few dates with her, Lance, as usual, was not having it at all. I don't remember the whole story, but apparently, it ended badly. Lance tried to pull a prank on Keith to make him look bad, and I guess it backfired and Lance ended up with her kicking him in the um… manly parts."

"Oh dear," Allura smiled as the two females sat for a moment in a comfortable silence.

"It's only added to Lance's strange animosity towards Keith. I don't get guys… but it'd be nice to have everyone back, this place is kind of lonely without the group. Even Lance's pathetic pick-up lines or him bickering with Keith would lighten the mood."

"They really don't like each other do they?" She asked as the space mice all walked up to them and joined the conversation.

"I think that is mostly Lance. He has issues with competition, and for whatever reason, Keith is his target."

"Keith seems to have a different relationship with the three of you." Allura looked at Pidge.

"Lance, Hunk and I were paired up for several months. I didn't really care much about the group, my primary goal was to get information on my family when the higher ups weren't looking. Keith had just left the academy at that point. So, we never met, but his scores and accomplishments were still talked about. Maybe that added to Lance wanting to beat him- makes him feel more powerful, important or something? Anyway, I wouldn't say that Lance, Hunk and I have any special relationship. Lance always seemed to get us in trouble. Hunk likes science, so I guess we share that."

"And Shiro?"

"Shiro? Well, he was a legend at the Academy until the mission went missing. I couldn't believe the story the Garrison reported. I guess Keith's leaving had something to do with that as well. I know about as much about those two as you do. Neither of them are much for sharing their pasts."

"This Garrison doesn't sound like such a great place."

"It's like every government structure. There are issues, but there are good things too." She shrugged looking back up at the map. A small flashing on the screen caught her attention and without warning stood up.

Allura watched as the techie walked over to the workstation and began to vigorously type on the console. A smirk came to Pidge's lips, and the gesture had Allura's heart feel a bit of hope for good news.

"We got someone," Pidge spoke with a nod.

"Who?" She asked as she stood up and walked with the space mice closer to the Green Lion pilot.

"Not sure, it looks to be a pirated Zarkon communication, but it used a Garrison phrase pattern."

"Let's go then!" The princess commanded, sounding more energetic.

* * *

Still feeling a bit uneasy when it came to traveling via wormhole, Allura once more opened up a gate after having Pidge and Coran triangulate the location of the signal.

Not knowing what to expect from that side of the galaxy, the castle ship pushed on towards one of their comrades.

The planet of Baltar sat in a strange area of the far galaxy. The group pulled up information and details on the location shortly after the message was received. The mark of Zarkon and the Galra Empire appeared on many of the neighboring planets, and the loss of natural resources on those planets now made the Baltar one of the last inhabited in the region. The small sphere with dwindling, but still massive forests appeared to be a low priority for the empire with only one major base keeping the population under control.

As the castle ship came into better view of the planet, Allura, Coran, and Pidge found several ships smoldering on a field next to a damaged base. The majestic Black Lion appeared to be fighting off a mass of smaller, but still bothersome fighters.

A quick scan of the area had Allura smiled seeing that Red Lion also resided on the planet.  
Suddenly they had three lions back, and her spirits improved.

"Red Lion appears to be inoperative," Coran shrilled as he began to pull up the communication lines with both the Lions.

"Shiro will know if Keith's ok," Pidge added, as she walked closer to where Coran worked.

"Castle to Black Lion, come in Black Lion."

"It's about time you guys showed up," the grimacing face of Keith appeared on the screen, giving the three a shock. His expression changed slightly to a smirk as if he understood their confusion. Allura couldn't help but feel a rush of relief knowing that while Red remained down, Keith was all right.

"Keith! I thought I patched into Black Lion's com," Coran scratched at his mustache.

"You did," Keith gave a slight nod before his attention went back to the pesky fighters on this tail. "Boy am I glad to see you all."

"Keith, you're flying Black Lion? Where's Shiro?" Allura's eyes, while relieved to see him held so many questions.

"It's a long story, and I'll tell you all later. First, we have got to stop that cruiser from attacking the prisoner camp, and getting these damn fighters off me would also be a good thing." He swore slightly after feeling the impact from another solid hit.

"Black will never let me fly him again if I get him all dented up," he hissed.

"Right, Green Lion coming out to help!" Pidge nodded and left the view of the screen.

"Hang tight, we'll provide some assistance while Pidge launches," Coran energetically sang as he went to work and destroyed a few of the fighters.

"Thanks, once we get these guys settled, there's a band of locals that may need our help in the far right quadrant. They've got several slave camps scattered throughout the area."

"Right, Coran, let's help where we can."

* * *

The questions that remained swirling around in her mind had not lessened as the battle appeared to be over and the Green and Black Lion landed in a large clearing. Sensors told that hundreds of people below them seemed to be celebrating.

A few tears came to her eyes as these people found liberation from the claws of the Galra.

"Princess?" Coran's voice finally registered to her ears, and she quickly brushed away the stray tears.

"Yes, Coran, what is it?"

"It feels good, doesn't it?" He smiled, placing a hand on her shoulders. "Seeing people be free. Don't you worry Princess, Voltron will bring that peace back to the galaxies, and your father will be able to rest well knowing his daughter helped make it happen."

"Yes, I cannot wait for that day. But for now, we can assist Baltra and share in their joy."

"I wanted to let you know that the castle is docked. We are able to head to the planet surface if you wish," he continued.

"Yes, we should find out what happened to Shiro, and how Keith was able to fly the Black Lion. I've never heard of anyone flying more than one before."

"With the exception of your father, no, it is a rare gift indeed," the royal advisor pulled as his mustache in a gesture that spoke of his mind mulling over the information. "But it really saved the day, didn't it! Maybe the Lions sensed that."

Allura nodded as the older man seemed no longer phased by the feat Keith had performed just now.

Following behind her friend, Allura rode the drop ship to the surface and found Keith waiting for them near the claw of the Black Lion.

* * *

Keith let out a large sigh. The castle and his friends had arrived just in time. His shoulder throbbed with pain for using it more than he probably should after the crash landing of the day before.

As he straightened and started to wave, towards his friends, a warm embrace caught him off guard. The power of the impact nearly had him falling to the ground. Instead, he was able to stop his downward movement and smiled as he discovered Kaya had excitedly hugged him.

"We did it!" She enthusiastically cheered, and Keith couldn't help but hug her back. "Baltra is free!"

"Yeah, I guess we did," he replied, still a little stunned.

"What are you doing standing here? The noble hero of the day should be in with the others celebrating! This victory is because of you."

"No, it's theirs… and yours. I can't take credit for your hard work and sacrifice. The fact that Black Lion let me pilot it was just a lucky coincident." Keith shrugged, his gaze went back to the cheering people, then returned to Kaya.

"I don't believe that it was a coincidence at all." She protested and reached out her hand for his. Her eyes shimmered with something that Keith was not sure how to react to, especially now. Looking away from her for a brief moment, Keith found Coran and Pidge smirking at the display.

"Pr- Princess," Keith studdered a bit, trying to take a step away from Kaya to make the closeness not as intimate.

The young warrior turned to see whom Keith was addressing and smiled at the others who aided in their victory.

"You must be the rest of Voltron."

"Kaya, this is Coran, Pidge, and the Princess Allura," Keith felt a bit uncomfortable with the look on Allura's face. Her serious expression when meeting new allies looked a bit more… serious to him. When her blue eyes went to focus on his still entwined hand with Kaya, he thought he saw her eyes narrow a bit.

"This is Kaya," he continued after taking a bit of a pause not really understanding Allura's reaction. "She saved Shiro and I… and is the mastermind behinds this little rebellion today."

"We couldn't have done this without your assistance and guidance." Kaya once more pressed him, "surely you know that you were born to lead people. Your desire to help others and just how you present yourself, it gives people confidence and inspires courage. That is what won the day."

Her instance and increased pressure on his hands had Keith blush a bit. It felt good to feel appreciated and not a worthless drop out at times - not that he ever accepted the Garrison's label of him - but this much attention felt slightly uncomfortable.

"Don't forget us," Coran interjected and stopped the pair, "We sent those Galrans packing faster than a Zorbnoid in a quaizart."

"Yes, you certainly did," Kaya smiled at the orange mustached man and his words.

"Keith, where's Shiro?" Pidge asked looking around the area. There certainly was a lot of activity, but it was unusual for Shiro to not be present during an intense operation.

"Shiro is resting, but we should get him to the castle's medical pods soon." Keith began.

"Kaya, is he still back in the village?"

The blonde woman looked over the three newcomers and nodded.

"I will have them bring him immediately, when the attacks started we moved the young, old, and injured to a safe location not far from here." She motioned some of her friends.

"Your ship has extensive medical resources, correct? May we ask for aid with the wounded as well, Princess, if that's acceptable."

"Why of course. Any enemy of Zarkon is welcomed to our resources," Allure replied shaking the thoughts of Keith and this warrior's proximity from her mind. Looking around she noticed the aftermath of the battle, and by the looks of their technology, they could use the help.

Keith smiled at Allura for offering the aid.

"I can have Coran bring the supplies needed and those in greatest need for care will be taken up to our ship."

"I will go and arrange that, thank you. Thank you all." Kaya quickly placed a kiss to Keith's cheek before letting go of his hand and briskly walking back towards her people.

The Earthlings and Alteans stood in a moment of awkward silence.

"Well, are you going to tell us what happened or what?" Pidge asked trying not to snicker at how confused Keith looked after that kiss.

"Huh?" Keith shook his head collecting his thoughts.

"Like how were you able to fly Black Lion? How Shiro got injured…"

"Oh, right, sorry. It's been a hectic few days. We crashed down here after the battle. I messed up my arm, but other than a few bruises I'm not injured, but Shiro was. His run-in with the witch, Haggar, it messed with his head, and he has a severe wound on his stomach. I've never seen something like that before; I did what I could, and then Kaya and her people found us... they took us in, and kept us safe from the Galra."

"And Black Lion?" Coran inquired taking in Keith's story.

"Allowed me to fly him. I think he sensed that we needed the help. If I had not taken over the communication link, I don't believe that you would have found us. And Shiro needs help."

"I'm impressed, hacking into an enemy's mainframe…" Pidge looked a bit surprised.

"When needed, I can be a techie too." Keith rubbed his throbbing shoulder and laughed a bit. "It worked, you're here, and now Shiro can get better." Keith sighed turning around when he heard a large commotion approaching them.

Kaya led a procession of several men holding sides of multiple stretcher-like contraptions carrying the severely wounded.

As they got closer, Keith noticed the lead group carried Shiro. Moving quickly to close the distance, Keith looked down on the figure of his friend and mentor.

"Shiro," he sighed in relief seeing Shiro's tired eyes looking up at him.

"Hey there, how did Black treat you?"

"Just fine, but I'm looking forward to having you back in there. He packs a bit of a punch. But don't worry, you'll be just fine in no time. Pidge and the others found us."

"Princess? Pidge? Coran? It's good to see you." Shiro spoke seeing them all move to surround him.

"You just rest, everything will be fine." Allura placed her hand on Shiro's shoulder.

"Thanks, I've felt better, but I've been able to rest knowing we're in good hands." He nodded towards Keith before the group turned to head towards the castle's drop ship.

"Coran will see to your people's aid on the ship," Allura informed Kaya as the two female leaders stood next to each other. "Please, do not hesitate to ask for anything."

Keith's unease from the prior looks and tone of Allura's voice calmed a bit as the princess appeared to no longer focus on whatever had caused her strange mood. He, in turn, returned his focus on the items left to take care of after the battle- namely any Galran prisoners remaining on the planet.

"Pidge, do you think you can run some diagnostics on Red if I bring him back to the castle?" The red paladin asked of the youngest of the group.

"I can certainly give it a try. Need me to assist in bringing Red back?"

"Maybe, I'll see if Black will let me fly him one more time... if not, then yeah."

"I wonder if the rest of us will be able to cross over into other lions?" Pidge pondered not really wanting to try her hand at any other lion but Green. "Allura, do you know if that was something the previous team did?"

"According to Coran, it shouldn't be something that just anyone can do... I'll have to do some checking, but I understand only a leader of Voltron or my father could." She paused looking at Keith for a moment, "But I am not aware of them testing it out with others."

"I'm happy with accepting it as a well-timed fluke," Keith interjected, not liking being inferred as the leader once more. "I'm going to head over to the mountains where I left Red."

"I'll meet you in the bay area then," the green paladin replied and took off back towards the castle.

Kaya and Allura stood silent for a time before the Baltaran spoke.

"We really are grateful to you and your team. Had Keith and Shiro not landed on our planet, we would still be at the mercy of Zarkon."

"It's nice to see that people are willing to fight him even after all these years. With each planet we help, I feel like we might actually be able to defeat him."

"Princess, I have no doubt that you will succeed. We don't have much, but I would like to welcome you and your team to an evening celebration. And to apologize if I have offended you earlier."

"Offended me?" Allura tried to feign ignorance. She had felt a stirring of emotions at the interactions of Keith and the beautiful woman before her; however, she had no right to feel so. Keith and the mysteries surrounding him did indeed intrigue her, but it was silly to feel a sort of jealousy.

' _I must have been very obvious in my dislike of her touching him. He didn't seem to dislike the contact. I wonder what the customs on Earth are like in regards to affection. Ugh,'_ she stopped herself, _'now is not the time to let emotions and confusion distract from the mission.'_ She chastised herself and refocused on the woman talking to her.

"You did nothing wrong, I was just concerned for Keith and Shiro is all." Her training in state affairs came in handy as she twisted the truth to help her save face. "We've had some issues with our last run in with Zarkon, and it has left us a bit scattered."

"I understand. And if there is anything we can do to help, please, let us know." Kaya  
sympathetically touched Allura's arm. "Shall we?"

The two walked off towards what Allura could only assume was a command center. Still a bit lost in her thoughts, the princess didn't know how to deal with the new sets of information that the day brought.

* * *

"Thanks, Pidge," Keith sighed stepping out of Black Lion's cockpit once more after depositing the still inactive Red Lion near Pidge and Hunk's equipment.

"I've never really had to fix one before solo and all. I really hope that we just need to recharge him," the tech fan confessed.

"I did use up a lot of energy in that last battle with Zarkon. I didn't know that I could summon a plasma cannon like that."

"These Lions sure have a lot of secrets."

"Tell me about it," Keith said as he allowed his mind to drift back to the whispers he heard while piloting Black Lion.

 _'I wonder if I'll ever know what he was trying to tell me. Or maybe I'm just preoccupied with the news of my dagger being Galra in origin. I can't believe that, but why would Kaya's people lie? They were very on guard around me once they saw the blade. I just don't understand the last few days… hell, why not go back years?'_ He asked himself while looking up at the Black Lion. Making a mental note to ask Kaya more about his blade later, he knew that now was not the right time for him to zone out with the jumbles of information from the last few days.

"Earth to Keith, hey, you in there?" Pidge asked, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Wha? Sorry Pidge, what did you say?"

"I asked if you got a good look at the Galra records from the prisoner camp here."

"Oh, I downloaded a bit of it when I set up the communication array. Not sure what all it includes, but here." Kieth handed her a small drive full of stolen Galra intel. "Sorry, but from these people's reactions to Shiro and me, I doubt they have seen humans from Earth. But it doesn't hurt to look, right?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Hey, we'll find them." Keith placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Just as soon as we can find Lance and Hunk, and Shiro gets better. Then the whole team will get back out there, and we'll search as we free people from the Galra."

"It's just hard, you know. Not knowing anything."

"And having the Garrison lie to your face about things. I know about that too Pidge. We'll figure things out in the end. I've got a feeling that we're all here for a reason, but right now, I'm going to head back outside and help with the cleanup."

"Allura called while you were bringing Black and Red in, I guess the Baltrans are throwing us a celebration dinner."

"Well, I think I'm going to change out of this armor then. I'm actually pretty hungry right now," he smiled as his stomach growled. "Can't be worse than some of Coran's food, right?"

* * *

The feast and celebration felt almost surreal to Keith. Half a day earlier he flew Black Lion in battle and now, the tired, long oppressed people of Baltra danced and cheered. The sun began its descent into the horizon, and large bonfires sprung up around the castle ship.

Even after Allura offered them shelter within the walls of her home, the Baltrans and Kaya remained adamant to hold their celebration outside. They were free for the first time to enjoy the sunset without fear.

Keith once more took in the activity around him in awe. A slight breeze sent a chill down his spine, but that was probably due to the different attire that he wore.

Kaya had waited for him after he had left Black and Red Lion in the repair bay outside the castle. In her arms, a package that she offered to him. Not wanting to disrespect the culture of the people who took Shiro and him in, Keith went to change as instructed.

To some, the skirt-like garment might not be the norm for a male, but Keith took it all in stride. His chest was bare, save for a sash that went over his right shoulder and connected to the waistband of the garment. The tannish color of the cloth matched with many of the other warrior's clothing that surrounded them at the feast. Without needing to ask, he could tell the color, and the jewelry that he wore meant a great deal to Kaya and the group.  
The turquoise gems were set in a tan metal.

The smile on her face had him forget the awkwardness he felt for a time. The people all seemed to now react to him differently. Instead of the hesitancy and curiosity, he was now an honored member of the group. Men would come up and shake his and Kaya's hand, and the women of the group would giggle prettily as he smiled at them. It was strange, to say the least.

Once the meal began, Keith found himself sandwiched between two strong women- Allura and Kaya. Still remembering Allura's cool expression to him and Kaya earlier that day, he found himself a bit on alert on how to act. The reactions of both Allura and Pidge to his attire had him nervous as well. While the two females wore similar necklaces, none of the Voltron group donned the traditional clothes like Keith did.

As the feast went on, he felt thankful that Lance was not here to run his mouth in the situation. That, or awkwardly hit on all the beautiful women at the celebration. These people appeared to be a bit bashful or was it restrained in some respects. Lance would indeed have made things... not fun.

Looking over to Pidge, he noticed the short tech-prodigy regaled the group about the creatures she encountered in the debris field where Green Lion had crashed. While the story entertained many of those listening, Keith's mind drifted to many things as the festivities continued. He could not help the questions that lingered about his dagger's connection to the Galra, nor could he shake the feelings he had after piloting the Black Lion.

Coran had mentioned that Shiro would be in the healing chamber for some time, which meant his concerns would have to wait. Only Shiro would know if the whispers in Black Lion were a normal thing, or not. Red Lion would give him images of things to do from time to time, but nothing like what he felt in Black Lion.

"One last toast," Kaya began and stood once Pidge had completed her tale. "To bright futures and strong allies in the fight for a free galaxy."

"Here, here!" Came the boisterous response before many at the main table downed their drinks in one go. Keith took a deep swallow of his amber liquid. The burn down his throat felt good and took his mind off the troubles he continued to face.

As the night progressed, Pidge, Coran and several of the locals took to the area near the bonfires. That left Keith and the two powerful women still at the table. Talk of rebuilding and her people's care had Kaya easily conversing with both Allura and himself. He continued to be impressed by the young women. These two leaders had so much responsibility on their shoulders, and they were fairing well given all their hardships.

After his own trials, he had shut down and closed off to the world. He still had issues being open around people. And yet, the two he sat near had suffered more than he and were able to still function and grow from it. Here they were discussing the rebuilding of a planet, and he, for years, closed off and allowed the pain to fester.

"Would you care to join them?" Kaya smiled nudging Keith, who had once more spaced out while watching the dancers.

"Huh?"

"The dancers, you are watching them very intently." Kaya continued as Keith looked a bit flustered now. Before he had a stoic expression on his face while she and Allura and discussed plans.

"More like getting pulled in by the fire and my thoughts is all." He replied scratching the back of his neck as he looked from one woman to another.

"You don't dance?" Kaya pressed, standing up and offering him her hand.

"Not really..." His voice wavered, not sure if he wanted to dance, but not wanting to reject her either. Turning slightly, he found Allura began a conversation with another. Seeing that she would not be saving him this time and that there was no real danger as to try and weasel his way out by saying he needed to stay by her side, Keith relented.

' _She stronger than I am anyway,_ ' he thought as he took the offered hand.

"I'll have him back in a few minutes," Kaya said as Allura looked at the leaving pair.

The look on Keith's face that he gave her before taking off with Kaya had Allura feeling not as bothered as she would have been.

* * *

Allura watched the group celebrate the victory long into the night. Keith had returned after a few songs of dancing with the large group. It appeared he was a quick study and picked up on the moves rather effortlessly. Coran and Pidge didn't have the same luck, and the Green Lion pilot and her trusted advisor looked lost in the mass.

Taking the opportunity to reflect on the day, the Princess tried to organize her thoughts.  
They could stay planetside for some time, but their mission would not allow for much delay. Finding Lance and Hunk remained the priority here. If their luck held, the pair would be together.

The issue remained that idly flying in space wouldn't do them much good either. On the contrary, if they met with Zarkon now, disaster could happen. Down two lions meant no Voltron.

That brought her mind to the pilot of Black Lion- well, pilots now. Shiro's wound was magical in origin and would take some time to heal, even with the medical pods. At least, whatever the Baltrans and Keith did, his mind was at peace.

After listening to Kaya explain what her people are able to do with guiding souls into others, it shocked her once more that Keith would be able to succeed in that endeavor. The more she noticed the dark haired man, the more intrigued she was in him.

He knew Galtran language, its tech recognized him, the readings from the ship told of a mixed origin, and that dagger. Now he could effortlessly pilot two lions and not just any of them.

' _No, the two most complex ones at that,'_ she pondered watching the athletically built man move. The sash, once covering the majority of his back, now exposed small bits of his back scars, from all the movement, she figured.

 _'You hold so many secrets, Keith Kogane,'_ she mused, ' _do you even realize it yourself?_ '

The answer, she felt, was that he did. How many times did she catch him deep in thought, or quite as he listened or observed his surroundings? Keith held much intelligence behind those dark orbs of his, he had to realize something by this point.

And maybe that could explain why she felt this strange pull towards him and not the others. He was a mystery, even to himself still. And she wanted to help him solve it. In doing so, she too might learn more about what the connecting piece was beyond that they both appeared to share the loss of family and at times of their place in the vast galaxy.

Before she knew it, Keith had returned to her side, slightly panting as he sat down. Taking the cup with his drink in it, he turned to her and smiled.

"You looked lonely over here pondering the world."

"I was just trying to work things out in my mind," she replied taking a drink of her cup as well.

"I know that feeling." He replied looking back over at the dwindling dancers. Many of the people had finally allowed exhaustion to win out over the feelings of jubilance. Only a handful of dancers remained.

"Coran and Pidge called it a night?" He asked, trying to rearrange the sash on his back.

"Yes, some time ago. Pidge wanted to check on Red Lion."

"I really messed him up," Keith sighed. "I shouldn't have taken on Zarkon head on. It was foolish, and I'm lucky to be alive."

"If you had not defended Black Lion, Zarkon would have captured it. You also allowed the team time to get me and escape. Thank you for that."

"I just hope Red Lion will be up and running soon. We're kind of sitting ducks out here," he motioned to the stars. The main fleet had to know about the uprising.

"That thought crossed my mind," she admitted. "But I'd like to think that we could handle just about anything at this point, right?"

"Whatever you say, Princess." Keith took another drink, as Allura watched. A slight smile came to his lips, and a twinkle in his eye had her wondering what he just thought.

Before she could question anything, her companion was on his feet.

"I think that's enough time in your head, Princess. Let's forget our troubles for a few hours. Join me?" He motioned to the fire and the dancers.

"Keith, I..."

"You said you could handle anything, right? So let's enjoy this victory before we're both worried sick about the repercussions and obligations."

Allura smiled at the seemingly new side of Keith standing before her. Maybe it was the drink having its effect on him, or maybe he truly wanted to let lose for once... either way

Allura allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

With his hand still in hers, he led her to where he had danced earlier that night. Kaya smiled, a smile that looked somewhat sad, at the pair as she continued to move with the group. Allura wanted to ask, but the expression on Keith's face told her now was not the time.

Slowly watching him demonstrate the steps, Allura felt peace win over the inner turmoil for a brief moment. Savoring the feel of his hand still in hers, she allowed herself to dance and forget.

"See you've got it," he beamed proudly at her as she began to enjoy the upbeat music and the thrill of dancing so close to Keith.

* * *

Allura felt her feet ache as she finally laid on her bed in the castle. Sleep seemed to be a bit allusive at the moment even though she was weary. The events of the day still weighted on her mind, but her spirits seemed higher now than they had been in a while.

To say that nothing had happened between Keith and herself would be a lie. The connection was there, and in some ways, it only grew the more she learned about the Red Paladin. But she still remained unclear as to what that connection was leading towards.

With a sigh, she curled under the covers and closed her eyes. Whatever it was, that bond made her worry slightly less about the future. She believed that they could face anything. And they would... together.

* * *

 _And with that fulff, we will end this chapter. Hope it was worth the wait. The next chapter will be up shortly! Feel free to leave some plot bunny food in the form of a review/comment. Thanks!  
_


	6. Multiplying Questions

_And I'm back with another chapter. This one takes place right after the group left Kaya and her people, and picked up Lance and Hunk in episode 2 of season 2. Obviously spoilers for that episode, I am sure that people have watched the new season multiple times by now. From this point, the story will be little snip-its that take place during/before/after episodes from season 2 (similar to my story Interrupted Moments)._

 _Enjoy!_

 _Chapter 6: Multiplying Questions_

* * *

Keith looked out on the vast expanse of space as the ship silently continued to its course.

The team finally found the remaining pair of Lions on an underwater style planet. Quite similar to their adventures on Baltra, Lance and Hunk found themselves in a bit of trouble. However, in the end, things worked out. Fortunately, the mer-people, once freed from their mind control used a beacon to notify the castle where to head.

Coran had the castle ship course set, and in no time, they had the full crew back on board. The only downside in Keith's mind came with the quiet, he had enjoyed for a short time, shattered.

Lance instantly began regaling the team repeatedly with his tale of mermaids, and him saving the day. Hunk snickered and corrected some of the exploits of the Blue Lion pilot and a certain queen mermaid. Keith stood there and listened, but could not help his mind from going off in all different directions.

The others continued to laugh and chat in the rec room, but Keith found himself wandering the halls briefly before checking on Shiro.

His friend still rested in the medical pod; he didn't look as distraught as back on Baltra, but his sleep didn't appear to be as peaceful as Keith hoped. There wasn't much he could do, and so Keith went back to walking the halls. Somehow he ended up in the command center, looking out at the stars.

Thinking back to that morning before they departed Baltra, Keith replayed Kaya's words concerning his dagger in his mind.

* * *

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much." She began looking sad after she found out the group planned to depart soon. "What I can tell you for sure is that it is Galra in origin. This marking is a crest of some kind. Maybe a family, maybe a rank of honor..."

"How did it end up on Earth?"

"I think we both know the only people who can really tell you more on that. Some of our elders recognized it when we brought you in. That is why we reacted so harshly." Kaya explained as she took the blade from his hands.

"Is it possible that it was simply found by your family and then passed down to you?" She attempted to lighten the dark and brooding mood that was coming over the young warrior.

"It can't be something as convenient as that. Not with the way I saw my parents care for this, talk about it as if it was the only treasure in the family."

"I don't know what to tell you, Keith. I wish I could ease your soul. Contemplating that the Galra did mix in with your heritage could be painful, but whatever the case, you are not those Galra."

"You think some could be good?"

"Good and bad are sometimes hard to separate. We all have the potential to be both."

Keith stood in silence for a moment until Kaya handed him back the cherished family possession.

"I see a lot in you Keith Kogane, but not evil. You have some shadows that I hope you won't let consume you, but your heart is in the right place." She stopped and moved in closer leaving a kiss on his cheek.

"It would be selfish," her voice began again as she stayed close to him, looking into his eyes, "to ask for you to stay here and help us. You have so much ahead of you, I can see it."

"Kaya, I..." Keith didn't know what to say. He saw this coming. It would take someone denser than an ox to not see the attraction that was building, but for Keith, he knew staying was not an option.

"I know," she stopped him from speaking. "Just promise that you will rid the galaxy of Zarkon."

"You have my word on that."

* * *

He stood there looking off into space until the doors to the command center opened. In came the Princess Allura, wearing her long dress and a serious look on her face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were in here." She forced a smile as she continued to walk into the room, closer to where Keith stood.

"It's ok," Keith mirrored her forced smile and turned to meet her near the seat where Shiro normally sat. Placing his hand on the head rest, he faced the princess. "You get tired of listening to Lance's stories?"

"Ugh," she moaned, holding her head in her hand. "He certainly has… and interesting personality."

"You could say that." Keith chuckled. "I was kind of getting used to the quiet in the castle, but I guess that wasn't going to last long."

"Indeed."

"Any updates on Shiro from Coran?" He asked hoping for good news.

"None, sadly. I've never seen such a wound. It is like there is some kind of magic involved. Coran said he would check on him before retiring for the night."

"I wouldn't put anything past that witch of Zarkon's…" Keith trailed off thinking of his own battles with some of Zarkon's wizard-like allies.

"Yes, well, that leaves us little to do while we wait." She nodded.

"We've got a decent hiding place in this comet cluster, and we're all back together, so I guess we should look on the bright side of things, right?"

"Well said," she laughed a bit at the positive words from the man who Pidge called a brooder. "So, did you find out more about your dagger on Baltra?"

Her question should not have been a surprise to him. When she looked at it, those weeks ago, her facial expressions were of deep interest.

"Not much. Some of their elders think they have seen things like it before… but there are so many new questions I keep running into. How it got to Earth? Is it connected to the Blue Lion, which just so happened to be on Earth as well? How did my family get it? So, nothing life changing yet."

"I am sure we'll find more as we keep going."

"It is frustrating, with all these secrets around every corner," Keith stopped. In addition to his own questions, there were so many more that also began to arise. How Zarkon kept finding them. How he connected with the Black Lion and just where the evil leader got a bayard so similar to theirs.

He wanted to ask Allura some of these but didn't know how to approach the topic.

'Why would she keep information from us? Or is she even keeping information from us? She might not even know, herself.' He looked back out into the black of space.

The silence that filled the room wasn't unpleasant. At least for him, having her there seemed to once more calm his mind.

Allura stood there watching the dark haired man gaze off into the screen as if searching for answers to his questions. In the pit of her stomach, she wished to ask him something. Listening to Lance's talk of the mermaids, Hunk's comments about his friend Shay and Pidge's words before about human dating, she wondered what Keith thought about Kaya from Baltra.

"Are you worried about her as well?" She asked finding the courage to just get it over with.

"Her?" Keith moved to face Allura, not understanding the question till it dawned on him- Kaya.

"Oh," he smirked, "well, I think Kaya is doing just fine. You gave her the communication link just in case they need us. And she's a great leader. Her people will be rebuilding for some time…"

"Yes, well…" Allura hated that he wasn't answering exactly what she wanted to know. "I'm sorry if you wanted to stay."

"Stay? There is no way I could even think about abandoning the team. Princess, I am here for the long haul. You can count on me."

"That's… that's good to know."

"Princess, I'd never leave this place. I know we've only been here for a few months, but it feels like home. Like I belong here."

Allura stepped closer and placed her hand over his, still resting on the headrest of Shiro's seat.

"I am glad and honored you feel so comfortable here."

"I just hope that Shiro gets back on his feet soon. I don't even want to think about what we would do if we needed Voltron at the moment. You don't happen to know how to pilot a lion?" He smiled looking hopeful that she could if needed.

"Well, I've never tried by myself," she began remembering when she rode with her father in the red lion.

"Maybe we should get you in a simulator or something? Or can you pilot while still flying the castle?" Keith took his hand away from the headrest and scratched his chin.

"I don't know. I've never needed to try."

"I think we can both agree that we need to be prepared for everything." He tried to stifle a yawn.

"Yes, but I think for now, maybe some rest."

"Good plan," he confirmed. "It feels like I haven't slept in ages."

"Well, we better rest while we can. Maybe tomorrow you can show me the flight simulator. I heard from Pidge that you were the best in your class for a time."

Keith chuckled.

"That feels like a lifetime ago, but I could show you a few things."

The pair smiled and turned towards the door to go their separate ways.

"Keith?"

"Yeah?" He stopped as he was about to go towards his bunk.

"We'll get through this. And survive somehow."

"No doubt on that Princess. We just have to keep believing right? And it will happen."

"Yes. Goodnight Keith."

"Sleep well, Princess."

* * *

 _Aww, fluff and mystery._

 _Stay tuned for more to come soon, it appears the plot bunnies are back and I feel like writing again!_


	7. Not All Bad

_Chapter 7: All Bad_

 _This chapter takes place after the episodes 3, 4 and 5, where the Voltron crew meet Shiro's rescuer, and Keith is learning more about the possibility of there being "good Galra." It definitely takes place before the episode "The Ark of Taujeer" where Keith and Allura spilled off with the group. The plot bunnies have something in store for that little adventure next. Enjoy!_

* * *

It didn't make sense.

But then again it did.

Keith felt like hitting his head on the wall near his bed in frustration. When they first met their enemy back on Earth, heard Allura's heart-breaking stories, and then ran into multiple enslaved populations fighting for freedom, it was easy to hate ALL Galra.

But the last few days had Keith questioning that initial assessment.

Ulas had really opened his eyes to the notion that some Galra could be good. Or maybe it was the slowly coming together of the puzzle pieces that he might have some kind of ties to the Galra, that allowed him to embrace that concept.

They weren't always bad, he also told himself. Shiro said something similar back when finding the coordinates for Ulas and his outpost. Allura couldn't deny that fact, and yet her hatred of the species had Keith on edge now.

He couldn't blame her. And he didn't.

Zarkon had once been her father's ally and friend. What happened to twist that man to the dark side was still unknown, but whatever it was, it was huge. Someone didn't rain down death and destruction for over 10,000 years over something small, right?

And it wasn't like he could just go up to Allura and ask what happened. One could not predict exactly how she would react to such questioning.

Keeping these thoughts locked inside hurt. But he didn't exactly know how to broach the subject with the group. Aside from Shiro, they all seemed to have made up their minds with how they felt about the Galra.

Telling Shiro about his blade, the strange feelings he got while in Black Lion, the many times he just instinctively understood the technology here… it scared him.

No, he needed this figured out more before bringing Shiro into the loop. His mentor and friend already shouldered enough pressure with the constant fighting and issues that arose from their less than professional soldier attitude at times.

' _I've already got him worried,'_ Keith sighed. _'I need to keep this all under wraps until something is solid.'_

Standing up, Keith felt a need to go and see the Lions. Something inside called to him, and he decided to go with that thought. It wasn't like he would actually be able to sleep… there was just too much going on. They had just barely managed to escape another attack by Zarkon, and were no closer to figuring out how Zarkon tracked them. It was getting annoying really- everyone was on edge.

Entering the docking bay where the Lions sat, Keith walked up to the Red Lion. Petting its metal claw, he looked up at the massive beast.

"You're tired too I bet," he commiserated with his Lion. "At least one of us can get some rest. You deserve it, friend."

His head shifted to look at the Black Lion, sitting on the other side of the enormous room. "I'm going to say hi to Black," he chuckled not knowing why he needed to try to explain the reason for heading towards the other giant cat. It still puzzled him how drawn he felt to the central Lion.

As he stood before the Black Lion, a stirring in his stomach made him once more unsure of his feelings towards this mighty beast.

' _Are you a part of this crazy puzzle I seem to be stuck in? I don't necessarily want to be the leader of this group. That position fits Shiro so well. I can't even compare... no matter what people keep telling me. I'm sure you're happy to have Shiro back, huh?_ '

No answers came from the Lion. Instead, the odd feelings continued. Shaking his head, not having the strength to try and understand the connections any further for the moment, he spotted the Blue Lion off to the side of the bay area.

' _Coran didn't know why you were on Earth… and it can't be a coincidence that my dagger and you were the only elements of alien life on our planet.'_ He wondered as he continued walking in the hanger to then stop at the base of the Blue Lion.

The proximity of his family's home, the alien dagger, and the Lion out in the desert country added to the seemingly endless unconnected puzzle pieces.

' _I wonder if I can find out more about the original pilots. We know Allura's father flew Red, and Zarkon had Shiro's spot. But what about the others? Did my ancestor fly you to Earth? Was it even my ancestor, maybe whoever flew it gave this dagger to a human and that is how I got it?_ '

Keith thought back to the lesson he took away from Alkaria - that they were all connected. Somehow, there was a connection, but he needed to dig a bit more in order to understand exactly how he fit into all of this.

"I'm sure I could try and access the ship's records without asking Allura to relive some painful moments." He spoke out loud knowing that just sitting there would do him no good.

Looking at the robot Lions once more, Keith turned and left in search of a console to try to ascertain some of his answers.

* * *

Allura couldn't believe the mess they were in. Zarkon was tracking them… somehow. No matter where they went, what they did, how far they ran, the evil monster found them at every turn.

' _I don't know how much more of this I can take,_ ' she sighed as she stood at the helm of the ship's command center.

To add to the tension, it seemed that Shiro and now Keith appeared to trust in this Blade of Marmoura nonsense. Going to the lengths of defending the Galra man, Ulas, and trying to get the team to also subscribe to the thought at some Galra could indeed be on their side.

' _Where were these so called good Galra when Zarkon attacked Altea? Or enslaved the many galaxies. No, it can't be true._ ' She shook her head exasperated that she even slightly considered that Ulas' words could be trustworthy.

"Normally they are both the logical ones of the group," the Princess spoke to her mice, as they stood by her side. "And even after all they have seen."

A few of the mice chattered at that comment, gaining from their princess a slight smile.

"I know you mean well my friends, and I thank you for trying to lift my spirits." Allura knelt down and gathered up the four mice. They came willingly into her cupped hands and nuzzled against her palms.

As she brought the small creatures to her face for a hug like gesture, the doors to the command center swished open.

"Oh, Princess, sorry," Keith stopped after seeing Allura with her mice in what seemed like a private affair. "I didn't realize you would be here."

"Keith, no, it's alright. You weren't interrupting anything, really." Allura smiled at the Red Paladin.

"I guess it makes sense you would be here. You never know when Zarkon will show up."

"Yes, the mice were trying to cheer me up after I too remembered that fact." She replied letting the mice climb to her shoulders. Standing up she eyed the young man before her as he walked to his console area and sat down.

"What brings you here?" Keith knew she would ask that, but didn't know exactly how to answer.

"I wanted to access the archive files and just learn more about... things."

"Things?" Her interest arose slightly.

"I've been thinking that maybe knowing more about the past pilots, things that happened before Zarkon went bad could potentially help us."

"I suppose it is possible, but…"

"I mean, now that we are aware Zarkon held the role as former Black Lion pilot, we understand how he can connect with it… across short distances at least." Keith added. "Maybe we can find out how he's tracking us, or even… if other Galra were piloting the other Lions."

"Zarkon was the only Galra pilot I knew of... but my father invited many races to take part in the alliance centered on Altea. So I think that there was at least one other non-Altean who flew a Lion. I just don't know how that can help."

"It can't hurt, right?" Keith shrugged and began to type things on the keyboard. Allura came up to his side and watched as he pulled up a file on her father.

"I suppose not," her reply came with a sad smile looking at her father's information as he scrolled through it. "You really think that we can figure out how he's tracking us from archive files?"

"It's a place to start. Maybe after we imprint on the Lions, we have some ability to connect with them in other ways."

"But over such long distances?" she interjected.

"But with all the magic he's got in him…"

"And Zarkon has not flown Black Lion for 10,000 years."

"Well, maybe he can track a person… I don't know." Keith tried keeping the defeat and frustration from his voice. He didn't think that the tension between them would be this awkward once he began supporting Shiro's feelings on Ulas and this Blade of Marmoura.

"I think that might be the case," Allura leaned against the back of his chair, wanting to tell him that she really meant her words earlier when she felt that Zarkon tracked the through her.

"Look, you and Coran know much more about these Lions and the whole magic thing than we do, I think that we've only been surviving up to this point. If we're going to unlock all the power needed to defeat Zarkon, shouldn't we try and understand more about what happened with the past force members?"

A silence lulled over them both as Keith stopped his searching and Allura continued to lean against the chair, not speaking.

' _He's right,_ ' she internally conceded. It was smart to try and search the past for some answers. The answers they lost when her father's memory shattered. He could no longer give them that knowledge, but maybe the ship had other pockets of data for them to access. She felt slightly ashamed to not have thought of that sooner, but with everything going on... downtime to gather their wits didn't come very often.

It would be painful. Allura realized that. And from Keith's tone, he knew that this was a touchy topic as well. She wanted to tell him, his words and support had been very much appreciated over the past few months.

The two stayed locked in their internal thoughts for a time. Neither knowing how to proceed with the touchy topics that needed discussion.

It was to this scene that the doors once more opened and a tired looking Blue Lion pilot walked into the room.

"Oh… hey, Princess… and Keith," the tone of his voice told of his dislike of finding the two of them together. A suspicious eyebrow went up as Allura stood up and walked a bit away from where Keith sat.

"So, what'cha doing?" Lance continued moving into the room and giving Keith the stink eye.

"We were… just talking." Keith said crossing his arms, not liking the third degree from Lance right now- or ever. All he wanted to do was get some answers, but instead, he got the feeling that Allura still had reservations with digging into the past.

"Sure, right, and I'm supposed to believe you? Well, I'm on to you buddy!" Lance pointed towards Keith before turning his attention to Allura.

The rest of their conversation faded into the background as Keith's temper began to rise.

' _You're tired Keith, don't react,_ ' he told himself. Lance just seemed to have this way of poking his defenses and finding those touchy spots. Of all the team, Lance had a lot of potential, but repeatedly decided to not use it.

' _He doesn't seem to care about any of this!' Keith fumed internally. 'He's hitting on Allura constantly... when he should be trying to help. Ugh, I have to get out of here before I...'_

Standing up, Keith silently trudged towards the doors and left the room without another word. He wasn't going to get any work done in the control room, maybe he could find Coran and ask about another area to set up access to the ship's archives.

Allura watched as Keith left; her new conversation partner didn't seem to care much to the other man's departure until the doors closed.

"Wow, something's bugging that guy. Oh wait, there's always something bugging him. Good riddance," he smiled, "we don't need him. So Princess, how about that drink?"

"Huh?" Allura turned back to Lance after staring off at the wall near the exit. "Oh, if you don't mind, I think I'll try and get some rest. Maybe we should all do that."

"I guess… rain check then?" the Blue Lion sounded a bit sad as the Princess followed Keith's lead and left the room. Now, the only person on the bridge, Lance looked down to the chattering mice and smirked.

"Yeah, well, she'll come around. The ladies love me." He puffed up his chest and gave the small creatures the sparkling smile, trademarked for when he was wooing a woman. "And there's no way she's interested in emo Keith. That guy is about as romantic as a stick in the mud, even if Pidge said he found a female on that one planet, there's no way he can compete with this."

The confusion on the faces of the mice didn't quite register with Lance as he laughed at the thought of Keith and the Princess.

"Now for that drink!"

* * *

 _Ah, poor Lance. I really do enjoy this version of him and the dynamics of him and Keith. It will be interesting to see how things go in the third season when Keith might have to take over the team... Lance might not like that too much. The plot bunnies are running with the potential of stories... but those will have to wait. Next chapter- Keith and Allura alone in a space pod!_

 _Internal angst and slight fluff to continue!_


	8. More than a Feeling

_Chapter 8_

 _Thanks for coming back! We now have events that take place in episode 6, "The Ark of Taujeer." Some of the dialogue from the episode is contained within, and there might be a few slight changes to make the expanded scenes work better._

 _With that being said, thanks again for the views and comments. I hope you enjoy! I'm off to travel for work again, but I have a good basis for the next few chapters going. I don't foresee a long wait like in the past again. Fingers crossed!  
_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

He hadn't meant to scare her. But, he just couldn't stay quiet in his hiding place behind the ship, as she climbed into the spacecraft in the hanger bay.

Keith found it surprising that the Princess Allura would also be there in the middle of the night… apparently with a similar notion to venture away from the group.

Stepping out from his hiding place, he called out to her. She must not have expected him there either, and she lost her grip. Without thought, Keith reached his arms out and caught her before she fell. Her lithe frame briefly rested in his arms, before she composed herself and pushed off to get to her feet.

"Oh, I might ask you the same thing," she countered in a still slightly startled tone.

"Nothing…" he quickly responded looking down at his feet, "just walking… late at night… near the pods." The excuse sounded idiotic, and he looked back up at her with a facial expression that must have told her he was a horrible liar.

She completely saw through the excuse as she asked about his attire and bag.

With a sigh, Keith decided it was time to come clean. If anyone knew how he felt about being a possible link to Zarkon because of what he was… or who he could be, it was Allura.

"I have to know if Zarkon is tracking me," he paused. "This is the only way. Don't try and stop me."

"I'm not going to stop you. I'm going to join you," came her response. "For one reason or another, we both feel like we could be endangering the team, so let's do this before anyone else wakes up."

Keith, still a bit shocked that she too wanted to go out on this little test, nodded and threw his duffel bag into the pod's cockpit.

Waiting till Allura climbed up, he followed, taking the pilot's seat.

"So you were going to go off on your own? Do you even know how to fly ones of these ships?" He asked as he booted up the small ship and took the controls.

"I figured that I'd learn quickly." She replied knowing that she had never tried to pilot one before. "I do fly the castle, so it shouldn't be that much of a stretch."

Keith smiled as the pod left the hanger bay and entered the blackness of space. Looking down at the castle on their ship's radar, he turned to the Princess sitting next to him.

"Let's go," Allura could almost read his last bit of hesitancy before having the shuttle take off full speed away. "We have to do this."

After a few minutes of silence, the pair in the pod could no longer see the castle ship on their short-range screen.

"You want to try and fly this thing, Princess?" Keith offered motioning to the set of controls on her side of the cockpit.

"I suppose we have to spend the time doing something, especially if you aren't going to enlighten me on why you, of all people, are being tracked by Zarkon." She took the controls as Keith let out a long sigh.

"It's a long story, but in my head, it makes sense," Keith confessed. "Back a while ago, I had some of the quintessence spill on me. And well, Zarkon, he's been looking for that so I thought that after my battle with him, he could maybe hone in on it…" He chickened out, not wanting to tell Allura what he thought his lineage might include more of a connection as well.

"I suppose that is a logical assumption," she remarked as she held the controls.

"Make sure your grip is firm, but not too tense," Keith instructed trying to demonstrate the proper way to sit in the pilot's seat. "The left stick, when you move it to the left, is what turns us that way, same for the right; to accelerate you need to move them both forward. It's really pretty easy with practice."

Allura did as instructed and their ship reacted.

"Try a left turn," his voice suggested, "but keep your eyes on the degree of the turn, too far and the ship might start into a spin. Easy, controlled motions."

For a few minutes, Allura piloted the craft through space. Learning how to do so was a bit different from her control panel on the ship. The castle almost moved with her on instinct. The connection between her and the ship allowed for an ease of controlling all she needed to do. Then again, Coran did most of the course plotting and corrections. Allura's role brought the moving parts together.

This style of flying brought a rush to her body, knowing that she controlled its full movement.

"Watch out for that chunk of space debris," Keith warned as a sharp looking object appeared on their screen. The ship would need to make a slight correction to get out of the way, and he waited for Allura to take action.

Reacting to his words, she jerked the controls, and the harsh motion sent them on a bumpy course change.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she let go of the controls, and Keith took back over.

"Don't worry about it," his voice sounded amused. "It takes a while to know how much force is too much. When I started piloting, it wasn't always the prettiest either."

"You? The Garrison's best pilot?" She too sounded amused at his confession.

"We all start somewhere. And flying just came naturally for me is all. Being in a pilot's seat, or building a craft... it relaxes me. I feel like a part of something I understand and to some extent have a bit of control over."

"I can see the appeal, but I don't think I can concentrate on flying and the events of late… Can we try this another time?" She asked interlacing her fingers and resting them on her lap.

Keith nodded and waited for her to continue her thoughts. His face told her he understood and wanted to listen.

"It's just that Zarkon, he has to be tracking us through me. When I woke up on Altea, he came not long after."

"I guess, but to be fair, all five Lions were up and flying around. And we kind of poked the hornet's nest getting the Red and Yellow Lions back." He brought up that fact, hoping it made her fell better. "It was only a matter of time before he found us on that planet."

"And what about now? The past few days?"

"I… I honestly don't know. If it's you and me, hopefully, we'll know for certain soon."

A beeping on the ship's communication board got their attention. The pair looked at each other like guilty little kids, knowing exactly who would be trying to contact them.

"We can't ignore them," Keith said making sure they were both ready for the upcoming conversation.

"I know," Allura replied and hit the button.

"Princess, Keith, where are you?" Came Coran's worried voice over the radio channel.

"Exactly where we should be, far away from the castle," Keith was impressed at her change in tone as she spoke to her advisor.

"What? Why?" Shiro's confused voice came over the com next, and Keith knew instantly that Shiro didn't like their course of action on this matter.

"We must know if we are the ones Zarkon is tracking…"

Keith and Allura knew what they were doing involved risk. Shiro sternly tried to get them to reconsider, with no luck. The conversation with the castle ended abruptly, leaving Keith and Allura not knowing what happened to their team.

"Do we go back?" Keith asked, looking worriedly over to Allura. "We've been here for hours and no sign of Zarkon."

"It could just be distance or other interference, right?" She added, not wanting to head back just both stayed quiet for a time, trying to decide on their next course of action.

"I wanted to tell you, Keith," Allura began, "I'm glad that I am not alone in this. Having you here, it's allowed me to feel a bit better, but I must know. I could never live with myself if Zarkon were tracking us through me." Her eyes had softened as she spoke of her appreciation for him, but Keith noted that the coldness came back when she mentioned Zarkon.

"We face such a dire threat from the Galra," she continued, trying to get him to agree with her.

"Well, sure they're bad, no doubt about that," Keith replied, "but at the same time, can't a few of them be fighting for good? Look at Ulas. He sacrificed himself to save us!" He was about to add in the part of about his dagger but stopped when Allura interrupted in a stern voice.

"For all we know his sacrifice could be a ploy, one life means nothing to Zarkon."

"It means something to me; it means some of them are willing to help." Keith looked down at his hands, gripping the controls trying to figure out what he needed to say to get her to even consider his point.

"And we could use all the help we can get." He wasn't ashamed to admit that. There was no way that the five Lions and one castle ship could take down an army as large or spread out as Zarkon's. It shouldn't matter who they were, as long as they were willing to fight with them.

"Any offer of help from the Galra is merely a prelude to a trap. I know all too well how quickly they turn." Her arms crossed over her chest, not understanding why Keith continued to push this 'Ulas being a friend' idea.

"It seems crazy to lump them all together," Keith felt the tension once more building. Was there really no room for compromise in her world? Her stubbornness frequently impressed him, but now, it was like hitting a brick wall.

"Listen, if there are any good Galra, they have had 10,000 years to take down Zarkon. I would never count on them for help."

The body language from the two told the deeper story going on. Allura, closed off from him, leaving Keith feeling dejected and hurt.

' _If she's this against the Galra, I really can't tell her anything about what Kaya said about my dagger or that Ulas had a similar marking on his.'_

His focus went away from his conversation with Allura, and back out into the open space.

* * *

A time later, the distress signal had the pair in the pod conflicted with emotions. They were both elated that they were not the cause of Zarkon's tracking, and also concerned, seeing that the team was facing a battle without them.

Pushing the thruster button, Keith expected the ship to speed forward, but that was not to be.

Instead, the pod exploded and sent both passengers out into the void. Quickly getting himself back in control, he stopped his spinning.

"Princess!" The red-suited warrior called out to his partner as she continued to tumble farther away from him. Using his armor's thrusters, Keith sped to catch up with the Princess.

"I've got you!" his voice tried to calm her as they finally connected and pulled closer together. Soon their frantic breathing calmed, and the two looked worriedly into each other's eyes.

Their troubles from the previous conversation faded away as they floated through space.

"We've got to make it back," Keith growled, frustrated with himself.

' _Shiro was right, he's always right. Damn it, we need to get back and now! And these thrusters aren't getting us anywhere.'_

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.

 _'Got to stay calm. I can't help us if I'm drowning in rage or self-hatred. Ok... how can we get out of here? If only Red could hear me..._ ' He stopped. ' _It's worth a try... Red, I need you.'_

* * *

Allura felt awe and hope burst through her system at the sight of the Red Lion approaching their location.

"Keith, Keith look! The Red Lion found us!" She shook her silent partner.

' _Whatever he did, it worked,_ ' she marveled hugging him tighter as the Lion continued to come closer.

His look of amazement mirrored her own as they pulled part slightly and smiled at each other.

"All right Red Lion!" He cheered as well as the Lion roared at the pair.

The last time she flew in the Red Lion, her father had taken her out for a quick run around Altea. As the Lion opened its mouth, they entered and quickly moved to the cockpit- they had little time to spare.

Keith instantly went for the pilot's seat and took the controls.

"Sit down over there; we're going to punch it." He instructed, and Allura quickly strapped herself into the side seat, as she had all those years ago.

And punch it they did, Allura felt a bit nauseous as Keith flew through space, expertly dodging the objects in their way to get to their friends.

 _'How do they stand this feeling?_ ' She wondered as her eyes closed to try and get her bearings back. Her father didn't seem like the type of pilot to speed through a debris ring, but she couldn't help be impressed at Red Lion's newest partner. His reputation as being a fantastic pilot had been proved over the course of the last few months, but it was another thing being inside the Lion with him instead of watching from the castle.

This was a new experience for her- combat inside the Lion. Up until this point, she only knew of the banter from the group as they fought from the distance of the castle ship.

"Is it always like this?" She asked before even registering that she spoke out loud.

"The rush of energy?" Keith tried to understand her question as Shiro called for them for form Voltron.

"Yes... I've never experienced the... magic of it," she sought to find a word to describe the feeling. There were hushed whispers that she could pick up on and a warmth that remained hard to explain.

"It's hard to describe, huh?" He added, not taking his eyes off the battle. "Just wait, and hold on."

He warned her as they began to form the legendary defender. The rush went through her body, and she shuddered lightly at the connections the five Lions.

Her father had never brought her with him when they fought or formed Voltron. Watching the battle up close, she marveled at the movements of the robot and the reactions of their five pilots. When Allura lectured them all those months ago when they first started learning how to bond with their lions, she didn't know it was this emotional for them.

Wonderment, and true appreciation for her father's work, and these five men came to mind as a strong inclination came to the forefront of her mind.

"Keith?" She asked seeing that he was looking at his right hand, on the bayard docking console.

"I feel it," he replied without needing to know what she needed to say.

"Guys, my Lion wants us to try something," he called out through their com links.

"I think mine does too," Lance chirped out.

"Then do it!" Shiro called out.

Allura watched as Keith twisted the bayard's handle and a surge hit. The dizzy feeling had her confused for a moment up until they sliced through the massive Galra battle cruiser.

While the fight ended, the danger of their situation continued. The ship containing the survivors of the volatile planet nearly sunk into the lava breaking through the crust.

Without much thought, Shiro led the team to pick up the ship and get it safely into the sky. Flying past the planet's atmosphere and into space, the team cheered along with the Taurjeerians.

Disconnecting from Voltron, the five separated Lions aided the crippled ship towards its new home.

"That was intense," she admitted standing up and walking to stand behind where Keith sat. "Is it always this way?"

"Red handles a bit different than what I experienced in the Black Lion," he replied looking up at her with an odd expression.

"Did you hear... felt the..."

"Whispers?" He finished for her with a knowing look.

"Yes, it was hard to understand them, but it felt like the warmth that I got with my father... it was calming and... yet a bit alarming."

"I know exactly what you mean. I can't explain it, but even when on Earth, I felt that distant whisper. It's more than a feeling like the others keep talking about," he confided in her. "I'm not sure what that means or why... but they all seem to speak to me. Especially Blue, Red, and Black."

"Kaya mentioned you had a special gift to be able to use their mind techniques," Allura tried to relieve the conflicted expression on his face. "Maybe you are just gifted with understanding and being sensitive to other abilities."

"Just don't tell Lance, I can only imagine the taunts of being called sensitive." He chuckled, and Allura felt a bit relieved. Placing her hand on Keith's shoulder, the pair looked back out on the other Lions flying through space.

* * *

Thankfully Shiro saved the talking down of their actions for after the Tarjarians were safely deposited on their new planet.

Keith could tell from the look in Shiro's eyes, he was not happy. Pidge and Coran tried to make the whole incident end on a positive note, knowing that the connection between Lion and pilot could work across great distances, but still, Shiro's disapproval hurt.

"Keith, you've got to talk to me," Shiro said pulling him aside from the group.

"Shiro, I knew that going off wasn't the best of ideas, but the risks paid off." Keith tried to interject.

"And if they didn't? What if Red Lion wasn't going to come for you?"

"Shiro, I know what I felt. Believe me on this will you?"

"Keith, I don't understand what is going on with you. If you won't talk to me, then you need to work it out without blowing up at the team."

"I know," Keith sighed. "I will, you can trust me."

"Good, because while Coran goes to get those telladove lenses, I want you to keep the team together down there."

"I'll do my best," the younger man nodded putting his hand on Shiro's shoulder. "I know that I've only flown Black a handful of times, but listen to the whispers."

"Whispers?" Shiro looked slightly confused at that advice.

"It's hard to explain. Allura heard them in Red Lion... and I've... I've felt and heard them as well. It's more than just a thought like when we figure out a few way to use our Lions... there's something else in these Lions."

Keith felt a bit disheartened at the skepticism on his mentor's face.

"You'll know it when you hear it... just listen."

"Does this have something to do with your issues that you won't talk to me about?" Shiro inquired as he placed his hand on Keith's shoulder. The pair stood next to each other with one arm on the other's shoulder.

"I'm still trying to figure that part out, but if Allura could hear it, then I know I'm not going crazy."

"Alright, I'll listen."

"Thanks, Shiro, I know you can break Zarkon's bond." He added before turning to head for the hanger bay where Coran prepped another pod for their journey to the space mall.

"Good luck friend."

* * *

 _And that brings us to the end of that chapter. The next one should be up shortly. Again, feel free to leave any feedback or squees for more fluff :)_


	9. Giving It All Up

_Chapter nine has us dealing with the behind the scenes from the Blade of Mamora episode. There are two stories that the plot bunnies needed me to focus on- of course, Keith's side, but also Allura and her internal conflicts. All those angry looks at Keith or sad puppy faces that Keith gives in this and subsequent episodes just have these bunnies running with internal dialogue._

 _Anyway- on to the chapter!_

* * *

The tension in the room remained high as the crew on the bridge watched as Shiro and Keith flew towards the secret base of the Blade of Mamora.

Lance, still fuming from Shiro's decision to bring Keith along, sat in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. Every so often Allura could hear some mumbling in a mocking tone. There was little doubt that he continued to berate his comrade in attempts to make himself feel better.

While Allura felt sympathy for the Blue Lion's pilot with his need for Shiro's acceptance and to feel at the same level with Keith at times, she simply could not get her mind off the task at hand.

Soon the Red Lion disappeared into the storm, and the team could do nothing but wait.

"Coran, keep the scanners up, I still don't believe that this isn't a trap." She ordered looking away from Lance to her longtime advisor.

"Right, Princess."

"So what do you think this base is like? In the space dumpling?" Hunk asked tapping his pointer fingers together in a semi-nervous gesture.

"I would love to take a look at all their beautiful tech," Pidge's eyes went dreamy as she considered the large systems needed to keep up the cloaking device, and stability within the two black holes.

The chatter that continued on the bridge faded into the background as the Princess Allura stood with her hands on the control pedestals- ready for action when needed.

 _'And I know it is when, and not if,'_ she scowled at the screen. In her mind, the double-cross could come from any direction at any moment. ' _None of the Galra can be trusted.'_

The risk of sending the Red Lion into a situation where they didn't know if their comrades needed help or even able to get to them for hours unnerved her.

As much as she trusted both Shiro and Keith, her hatred for the Galra mattered more.  
' _They'll see, once the attack comes, we can get over this absurd notion of friendly Galra and focus on fighting Zarkon directly.'_

The screen showed nothing on the progress of the mission. Coran and Pidge continued to try and fiddle with the sensors to get them to detect anything from within the closed space anomaly.

Standing, watching the screen, Allura felt a strange sensation and what she thought was akin to increased worry hit her. It was hard to understand it, but ever since riding in Red Lion, her connection to the Lions seemed more in tune.

For a time, she was left to wonder what that strange inclining could mean, as the sensors remained unable to penetrate into space where Shiro and Keith ventured.

That was until the castle began getting readings.

"The Red Lion is going berserk," Coran shouted in a panicked voice. While they could see what occurred in the area of the base, they remained powerless to do anything.

"Why would the Red Lion be attacking?" Pidge asked.

"And Keith's not in the lion," Hunk called out, "at least according to these reports."

"We need to get in there," Allura sounded determined to strike the enemy.

' _I knew it_ ,' her eyes narrowed as she kept focus on the screen, waiting for the moment that she could get the castle ship in range to fire on the base. _'You can't trust the Galra. This Blade of Marmora was all a lie to separate us. Any now Keith and Shiro are facing who only knows what danger to have Red Lion react as he is.'_

In the back of her hate-clouded mind, the fact that Keith's bond with the Red Lion enabled him to call out to the mechanical beast still impressed her. However, her focus remained on the destruction of their enemy instead of understanding how Keith seemed to be the only one of them to accomplish this feat.

"We'll be ready to move in ten ticks," Coran informed her, and the three pilots took their spots at their control consoles, ready to jump into whatever battle took place.

"We're ready," She responded, tensing up not knowing what to expect.

* * *

Inside the base, Keith felt his anger growing.

 _'Why won't they tell me anything?'_ He looked down at his blade after refusing to surrender it. Whatever trials he had to go through, he would.

He needed answers.

He wanted answers.

He would die to get them.

' _They seemed surprised at the fact that this blade was with me on Earth, but an organization like this must have ways of finding information if they don't already know how it got there. I need to focus and complete whatever these trials are... I just have to...'_

Dressing in the all black garb, much like the others wore, Keith walked into the large room, dagger in hand. It unnerved him on how ill prepared he currently felt.

' _Shiro doesn't approve of this... he wanted to leave, but I can't just leave. Partly for me, yes I'm being selfish and jeopardizing the group... but also, we need these people. We can't give up so easily. I won't give up my blade and the chance to make an alliance. I thought that with this,'_ he looked at the item in question, still in his hands, ' _that with this, we'd have a connection.'_

In the center of the sparse room, stood an intimidating hooded figure. The words of this man rang in his mind, and the two stood there facing each other.

' _We will meet again,_ ' the menacing words repeated.

' _Well Keith, you wanted this.'_ The physically smaller man took a centering breath and positioned himself to strike. ' _Knowledge or death, huh? Well, let's get this started then!'_

"Surrender the blade, you cannot win."

Keith lunged at the larger man with his small knife. When the other fighter, Antok he thought the man's name was, toyed with him for a few minutes, the Red Lion pilot kept telling himself to remain calm.

Being thrown a few times, and sliced on the shoulder didn't stop him. Grabbing the injured area, Keith thought it was odd when blood didn't flow from the wound. Only the color of his suit changed to a slightly deeper color.

 _'Strange,_ ' Keith mused for a short moment before his opponent came after him again.

Using his smaller stature as an advantage, Keith skillfully added a few solid hits against Antok. However, with the extra protection of the uniformed armor, the impact was minimal.

Coming from behind, Keith used his weight and sheer surprise of his crazy attack to flip the larger man to the ground. Quickly jumping to his feet, Keith moved to add another blow to the stunned man, with no avail.

Antok kicked at Keith's legs. Correcting his stance, Keith scowled as Antok returned to his feet.

"You were not meant to go through that door." The warrior said as he put his hand over his chest, lowering the blade.

 _'Is this a trap? If I move towards the door, he'll attack?'_ Keith wondered as he tried to assess his physical limitations. He could go another few rounds, but he needed an efficient exit strategy to win against this fighter.

' _Well, if he isn't going to attack, I guess I'm going for that door._ ' He eyed the still figure and took off in a sprint.

The frustrating part of this trial came with the same outcomes no matter how many doors he went through.

In a matter of what seemed like only a few minutes, he now had five opponents converging on him. Even with better weapons, the odds of him taking down these skilled of fighters would not improve. The pride he had in his fighting abilities were enough to admit when he was bested.

And boy, was he bested.

The onslaught of blades, fists, feet and more pummeled him until he fell to his knees, panting in pain.

Aching bones and protesting limbs fought with him as he struggled to get to his feet.

' _Get up. You can do it._ ' Keith commanded himself and somehow, stood before the growing numbers. Lifting his arms up in a fighting stance once more with his dagger ready to swipe and his free hand in a fist, the paladin prepared for another beating.

Instead, the group stopped their approach and, like in many of the other rooms, lowered their blades.

"You were not meant to go through that door."

"Give up human," another added, at this point, he thought it was the earlier Galra who taunted him, but he could not be sure.

"Never, I could do this all day," Keith limped towards the doorway as quickly as his body would move.

' _We're going up against seven or so now?_ ' His internal voice asked, and his body leaned against the door for a brief moment before passing into the new room.

' _Options,_ ' something in his mind spoke. Keith wasn't sure if it was his normal internal voice or something that he might have heard while in the lions.

' _Options? I don't have many at this point.'_ He quickly mused as he stood along in the center of the room before the floor opened to reveal the next wave of fighters.

And then it hit him.

' _Maybe, I need a new door,_ ' his movements summoned the last specks of his stamina. As the figures took up a fighting formation, Keith ran head on. Throwing the dagger, he smirked as it hit the target, keeping a floor entry portal open.

Dodging a few attacks and throwing a few of his own, Keith made it past the bulk of the group.

Coming into a slide below the legs of one fighter, he jumped up and cockily waved to the group before retrieving his blade.

The hole closed and Keith found his body hitting the solid floor. He didn't really try to stop the downward momentum, he was too exhausted. Landing on his back, Keith rolled over to rest on his stomach.

"Ughh," he half cried out in pain, half laughing at what had just happened to him.

"I got my ass kicked big time," the statement came out of his lips and echoed slightly as he let himself lay on the cold floor. The cool surface felt good on his battered body.

Turning his head slightly, he found his blade not too far away from his extended right arm.

' _Well, I didn't gain much knowledge, except that we want these guys on our side... we need them. I'm not sure how they will ally with us... but I'll think about that later. Right now, got to find Shiro_.'

Picking himself up, he cradled his throbbing arm and slowly pushed on through the similar looking dark gray halls.

' _Keep going_ ,' he repeated in his mind, but the internal exhaustion posed a stronger resistance than he had hoped.

His vision began to grow fuzzy, and his body lost the battle to move any further. Falling down on his knees, he let himself slowly crumple to the floor.

* * *

"Keith," a concerned voice called to him, forcing him to open his drowsy eyes.

"Shiro?" Keith weakly called out to the image of his friend and mentor. A new surge of energy came over him as Shiro reached out and helped him to his feet.

"Hey man, you did it." He smiled, "Kolivan said you lasted longer than anyone else in these trials. All you have to do is give them the knife, and we can leave this place."

"I can't just give it up," the younger man's voice cracked a bit but tried to show his dedication to his cause to the listener. Pushing off a bit from Shiro, Keith needed to look his friend face on.

"What is it with you and that thing?" Keith felt saddened the attitude his mentor gave him.

' _Why can't he understand? I need to do this for me… and the team._ '  
Keith continued the argument, taking the verbal beating from the Black Lion pilot.

"I've made my choice," he stood steadfast in his decision.

"Then you've chosen to be alone." The leader of Voltron sounded angry and turned to walk away from his friend.

Keith couldn't stop the pain that exploded from the action of Shiro physically walking away from him. The sensation of a deep chasm in his soul had happened to him a few times before in his life... Shiro should have known the impact of his actions as well. They were deliberate, and the heart-ache spread like venom through his veins. The familiar sensation brought his mind to flash back to when he lost his parents and when Shiro went missing. The urge to stop his friend and to try and explain his position better forced his weary body to move.

"Shiro, wait!" Keith called as the image before him turned a blinding white.

When the brightness faded, he was jostled into a new setting by the explosions off in the distance.

Suddenly his surroundings changed and he no longer resided on the hidden base. Instead, he was back on Earth... in his small house.

"Huh?" he looked around confused seeing the dingy couch, the posters of speeders on his wall, and the huge map detailing the lion carvings as well remained exactly as he left them months ago.

"Keith."

"Dad?" Keith could not believe his eyes. There had been nights where he almost forgot what his father and mother looked like... they had been gone so long. However, the man that stood before him appeared to be his dad. It was scary how unchanged the man looked from the last time he could remember seeing him.

The logical side of his brain told him this wasn't real- his father would be at least a decade older in appearance, but it was hard not to be drawn in... he wanted so badly to see his family again for so long.

"You're home son," the man a bit taller than Keith spoke in that familiar tone.

"What's going on outside?" Keith asked, not liking the sounds of the explosions that shook the house.

"Don't worry about that, we'll be safe in here." He seemed assured of that fact, but Keith couldn't help but turn towards the window. "Don't you want to catch up?" The man asked, and Keith frowned in sadness looking back at his father.

"Of course I do." He responded, sadness in his voice. "It's all I've ever wanted for years. Wh... where were you? What happened?"

"Son, so many years have passed, I have so much to tell you…"

The frame of the house shook.

"What is that?" The sounds from outside kept increasing, and Keith could not believe how calm his father appeared.

"Everything is fine," but Keith didn't trust the man before him. Going to the window of his small little shack, he pulled the curtains open and felt his stomach twist.

There on his home planet, a massive force of Galra marched forth. Behind the lines of soldiers floated a destroyer, like the invasion ships they faced many times before. The skull looking ornament on the front of the ship caused a shiver to run up his spine.

' _When we left, did they invade? Is this our fault? I don't understand..._ ' Keith tried to process the information he saw out the window.

A shimmer on the top of the cliff caught his attention and the confusion inside only increased as the Red Lion sat there.

The robot lion didn't move as the onslaught of the Galra advanced on the house and explosions rattled them every minute or so.

"Dad, I'm sorry I've got to go. People need me out there." Keith couldn't help but feel that even without backup he had to do something. Zarkon could not enslave his planet. Not while he was on it. Somehow Red Lion was there. He would fight till he died to protect his home. No matter what ran through his blood, he was from Earth. It would not fall.

"Don't you want to know where you came from? Your mother gave it to me." His father held out the blade that Keith thought he still had in his hand.

"Mom? Mom gave it to you? Where did she get it? I have to know!"

"She'll be here soon."

It had been over a decade since he had spoken to his father and Keith wracked his brain to try and remember if this father always spoke so cryptically.

' _It doesn't make any sense. She'll be here? How will she get here with a million Galra soldiers marching outside?_ ' He wanted to scream but didn't.

And how was Red Lion on earth? Shouldn't the lion be waiting for him outside the Blade of Marmora's hideout?

"You've got to tell me, dad. Where did the knife come from? What does it mean?" He implored the man before him to talk, to give him something... anything.

"Your mother is almost here. She'll tell you everything."

"I can't wait around anymore, I have to go. I need to try and stop the Galra. I can't let them take any more planets..." Keith turned and took hold of the doorknob. The sounds from outside only intensified, and his mind raced on the situation he faced. He would be alone, right? What did his father mean that his mother was coming?

"If you go out that door you'll never find out who you are."

"Goodbye, dad," Keith spoke with a pained tone, taking one last look at his father and the blade knowing that he might be losing his only chance at understanding the questions that ate away at him for so long. He would take the risk - Earth needed him. He was a paladin of Voltron after all... that was who he was, knife or no.

* * *

The next thing Keith knew, the destruction of his home back on Earth no longer loomed. Instead, Shiro once more came running to his side.

The ground shook, and debris from the ceiling fell around him as Keith laid on the cold floor. He didn't know what was going on or if this was another dream. The last two visions seemed so real but not quite right. The extreme ache in his body grounded him into this reality.

"Keith are you ok?" His friend in the black accented paladin armor knelt down to his side.

Reaching out, Keith accepted the assistance back on his feet, still feeling like he had been run through the physical and mental ringer.

Leaning slightly on Shiro for support, Keith tried to stand on his own feet. Just as the pair turned to head back towards the door, several of the hooded group ran to them, shouting in a panic.

"Stop, what you are doing?" The leader of the figures called out.

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" Keith asked, still not fully understanding why the base was crumbling.

"Call off your beast," Kolivan demanded, while his fighters took offensive positions around him.

"Move out of the way, we're leaving!" Shiro bellowed as both he and Keith saw the obstacles in their path.

"You are not leaving with that blade, it does not belong to you. You failed to awaken it." Antok's voice came in a menacing tone.

"What does that mean?" Keith shouted above all the chatter and crumbling.

"Give up the blade," the large man growled as he lunged at the pair. Shiro reacted faster than Keith could and activated his cybernetic arm. While Keith stood behind, Shiro caught the sword meant to harm them both. The two fighters grunted at each other as a battle of strength began, one pushing and the other pushing back - stalemate apparent.

"Wait!" Keith yelled again, finally making some sense of what was actually happening.

' _I can't lose Shiro. If we fight them here and now, we lose. We lose an ally, we could possibly lose two pilots... no! Not when I can do something about it.'_ He looked down at his blade.

"Just take the knife, it doesn't' matter where I come from. I know who I am. We all need to work together to defeat Zarkon! We're nothing if we try to do this alone. If that means I give up this blade, then fine. Take it. But just please listen to us! Zarkon must be stopped!"

Keith offered the last family possession he owned to the hooded men. He closed his eyes briefly, but then opened them and looked the figure in what he believed to be masked eyes.

The figure did not get a chance to reach out to take the blade, as a bright light began to emit out of it. The Blade of Marmora's symbol shined brightly as everyone went silent.

The mesmerizing transformation from a small dagger, to the strangely curved sword, had everyone transfixed.

"He's awoken the blade," a surprised tone broke the silence. Keith, still shocked that the object in his hand could do something like this, merely blinked and looked from Shiro to the others.

"The only way that this is possible," Kolivan began as he stepped out in front of Antok, closer to the silent paladin, "is if Galra blood runs through your veins."

"What?" Shiro almost squeaked. His eyes went wide and turned to Keith and the sword he now held.

Keith could feel his heart in his throat, but the sound of the beating echoed in a hollow body as the words of the leader of the Blade of Marmora repeated themselves in his mind.

' _Galra blood... in me... I'm part Galra_ ,' he staggered a bit on weak knees, and Shiro went to quickly support him.

"Keith?"

"I thought it might be something like that... it was my mother's." The dark haired man finally spoke.

A thunderous roar from the Red Lion outside the base drew everyone's attention away from the man and his newly morphed weapon. The assault on their headquarters ceased after that.

It was then that the communication with the castle ship also reconnected, and Shiro could hear Coran's voice asking them for a response.

Turning away from Keith and the members of the Galra group, he quickly assured the group on the Castle ship that they were safe.

"One of your fighters must have come to earth over 10,000 years ago. This blade has been in the family, my mother passed it on to me before she disappeared." Keith walked up to the leader of the group. His eyes asked for anything that the taller man could tell him.

"It is possible, and we will have to check back in our records, young one."

"But he is not a full-blooded Galra, how can this be? It's a disgrace to have..."

"Antok, enough. This paladin of Voltron has proven to the blade that he is indeed worthy. We should not discredit him, or we bring dishonor to our cause."

The leader of the group silenced the thought, and the man backed down immediately.

"Your name, fellow blade?"

"Keith. Keith Kogane." Keith spoke up, still holding on to the sword, transfixed at how right it felt in his hand.

"You are one of us now. The blade prides itself on the trust and dedication of our group. It would not have awoken to an undeserving wielder."

"But why did it not change before? It's always been with me." Keith voiced some of his new questions.

"You were not ready to give up everything to ensure an alliance with us before. Nor were you able to see that your past is not as important as..."

"The future." Keith interrupted the taller man, knowing what he felt during the vision on Earth.

"Indeed," the leader of the group nodded as Keith's gaze went back to the blade.

"We need to talk strategy," Shiro interrupted the silence between Keith and the other Blade members. "Our Castle ship can't make it in through the two black holes, so that leaves us with you coming to us."

"I will join you," Kolivan replied as he placed a hand on Keith's shoulder. The gesture comforted Keith's still reeling mind somewhat. It almost signified a shared puzzlement or reassurance that Keith would get the answers he needed.

"Keith, I know a lot is going on, but we'd better go. I think the others might be a bit concerned. Allura sounded about ready to charge in here after us." The older man's light voice did little to ease Keith's current state of mind. In fact, it did the exact opposite.

 _'Allura…'_ Keith sighed internally. _'She'll really hate me now. How can I tell her any of this?'_

He looked down at the blade and then towards his mentor.

There was nothing he could do to stop them from heading back to the castle, so he didn't try to fight it. Instead, the ride back in the Red Lion remained silent for him.

He felt like he was on autopilot within his lion. It was as if his metal partner could sense his internal struggle and accommodated for it.

With the short, uneventful flight over, the very eager looking members of the Voltron Force, and one still hesitant looking Princess awaited them in the hanger bay.

Shiro and Kolivan exited the mouth of the Red Lion first, and Keith stayed behind a brief moment, petting the side of the beast's sharp teeth.

' _I don't know what all happened back there, but thanks for coming for me.'_ He silently thanked his friend. ' _I hate how hesitant I am with coming back here... it almost doesn't feel like home anymore. Allura... she's not going to understand any of this. But you're there for me, aren't you Red?'_

And with that, the red armored paladin left the security of his lion and followed Shiro and the Blade of Marmora's leader to face the team.

* * *

 _And with that, we have another chapter done. Traveling this time helped with the writing time! I have the next few chapters plotted out. Just some little polishes here and there. Expect another chapter soon (sooner if you leave those little carrots for the plot bunnies in forms of comments... wink, wink)._

 _Thanks for the reviewers and readers. I am humbled you are with me for the journey!_


	10. Unwelcome Reactions

_This chapter takes place once Keith, Shiro, and Kolivan return to the castle ship- so right after the last chapter and at the end of episode eight.  
_

 _Thanks for the reviews and comments- I am slightly concerned that the bunnies will not let this story go anytime soon... and in the mean time, other ideas for other stories keeps popping up. #writerproblems!_

 _Anyway, enjoy this chapter._

* * *

"Princess Allura, so the rumors are true," Kolivan spoke as he finally turned off his mask's hologram and the group could finally see behind it. The thin face was accented by a strange looking scar running from above his left eye down his cheek. His expression told of many hard battles and a serious demeanor. Even Lance decided to not joke around him. "It is good to see you are still alive after all these years."

The Princess Allura hardly reacted when the taller man knelt down and reached out for her hand. The only reason she extended her own came from the many years of decorum and practice in the court of her father, King Alfor.

 _'I can't believe that Shiro and Keith would bring this creature into my castle_ ,' she internally huffed not liking the light purple-hued man before her.

When the group first saw the Red Lion returning through the now open anomaly, she had thanked whatever deities that had watched over them and brought them back. She was still not ready to put a name to the feelings inside that had been growing between Keith and herself, but with his safe return, she knew she had a chance yet to figure it all out.

What she had not expected came with their visitor.

"So is Zarkon. Can we consider you our ally in the fight against him?" Her tone was cold, and her eyes didn't leave the kneeling Galra for a moment. As the taller man stood up, Allura could not help being a bit intimidated by his stature.

"Yes, but we have little time to discuss this. I just received word from our spy inside the Galra hierarchy they have become aware of your presence, and the timetable of our plan needs to be moved up."

"How much time do we have?" Shiro asked.

"We begin preparations now. I will need to return to our base and gather the members."

"It would be faster to use the castle as our base of operations," Shiro suggested.

Allura held her tongue, not wanting to jeopardize the new alliance, but not liking the idea of multiple Galra in her home.

 _'If they really are our ally... I suppose we will need their knowledge of Zarkon's base at the very least. But I still want to know where they were when Zarkon began enslaving the galaxies.'_

"Keith, head to the med bay and get yourself patched up," Shiro continued. "I want us all at 100% for the planning meeting." He turned and spoke to Colivan.

"I will speak to my fellow Blades and prepare them for transport, but first... Do you mind, Princess Allura if I remain on your ship? I have much to discuss with your young paladin here." The leader directed his question at the princess, then looked over at the still silent man.

Allura's eyes went wide and focused on Keith, as he stood off to the side, apparently nursing an injured shoulder. His face also looked a bit weary with slight bruising showing.

"What happened back there? And why did Red Lion begin to attack when you were not inside the lion?" She demanded from the pair that looked worse for wear.

"It's … a long story," Keith faked a smile. She could tell something bothered him. He really was a horrible liar.

"One for which I'd like to hear before I welcome more of these Blades onboard my home." She didn't want to order him to talk, but the unanswered questions bothered her.

"Your paladin underwent the Trials of Marmora," Kolivan began. "It is what all Blade members must do to not only prove their worth as one of the group but also gain the ability to activate the ancestral blade. He has been deemed worthy in the eyes of our shared ancestors."

"Um… can I get a translation on all of that? Why would Keith needed to do any of that?" Lance spoke up, scratching his head. "Shared ancestors?"

"My blade," Keith finally spoke up, getting everyone's attention.

"I will need time to discover how it is possible, but your teammate shares our blood. He is a fellow blade."

Kolivan's words brought a shocked hush to the room.

Allura felt her heart stop.

"You mean that Keith's a…" Lance's mouth dropped, as did Hunk and Pidge's.

Keith crossed his arms and began to walk out of the room.

"Keith!" Shiro called to him and got the angsty man to stop for a moment.  
Partially turning back to the group, Keith silently scanned the faces of his friends and comrades. His heart thudded in his chest at the shock they all held. It wasn't until he looked at Allura's tanned face that it felt like someone had squeezed the organ in a vice grip.

"I'm going to get cleaned up, we have a mission to do, right? So let's do it." And with that, he left the room with Kolivan on his heels.

' _How is that possible?_ ' Allura screamed in her mind. And yet it made sense. The scan that she just couldn't identify what was different about his ancestry. ' _If the Galra blood had been diluted for multiple generations, it would make sense I couldn't recognize it, right?_ '

But her inability to pinpoint his family's origins was not what caused her trouble.

 _'He must have known… it explains why he pushed so hard to get me to think there were good ones. The fact that he didn't tell me… it proves they can't be trusted. And now we're going to have more on the ship... father, give me strength.'_

"Wait a minute, how is that possible?" Hunk asked, looking confused and trying to work things out. "I mean how Galra are we talking?"

"I do not know exactly," Shiro tried to explain what little had been said on the base with the others, "but it would have to be a good amount to activate the blade."

"Well, we already know that time is a bit different here than on Earth," Pidge's brain already saw the mathematical equation running through her mind. "And it is completely possible that alien life came to Earth, I mean Keith found all those caves and the Blue Lion was there."

"Yeah, but KEITH'S A GALRA!" Lance shouted at the youngest of the team. "I knew I didn't like him before, but now? It makes total sense..."

"So we're talking like a quarter Galra? How much is enough to make the blade do that lightly thing?"

"That's enough!" Shiro bellowed. "Keith has proven he is more than loyal to this group and our mission. I don't want to hear any more of this. I'm getting the others, and we're going to plan our next moves to defeat Zarkon, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," the three other pilots and even Coran responded, standing a bit straighter with the commanding tone in Shiro's voice. "Allura?"

"I'll work with the Galra, but that doesn't mean I have to trust or like them."

"We can deal with that, but I'd like to request you keep your reservations until proven, under raps. We need alliances right now."

Allura wanted to remind the Black Lion pilot of her reasons for the distrust but stayed quiet. She would do as she said, work with them, but she didn't have to like it.

"OK people, suit up, we'll meet back here once I bring over the rest of our new friends."

As the group left, Allura looked up at the Red Lion and felt a tightening of her heart. Keith was Galra, but he also was the kind spirit that had given her the flower fields back... and talked her through some sad moments. Deep down, she knew Keith would never betray her. Or at least she hoped her assessment of him remained the same after this revelation.

Walking towards the bridge, she found Coran looking out into space as Black Lion went to meet the incoming members of the Blade.

"Kolivan sent for his men to come in their own ship," the advisor informed her as she went to stand near him. "Shiro will simply guide them into the docking bay."

"Am I being unreasonable?"

"Princess?"

"The Galra- how there could be good ones. And now, Keith? I just don't know what to think, feel, do." She confided in her trusted friend and advisor.

"No matter what you decide, know that your father would be proud of you for fighting back. If I may, I think we should allow room for trust again. It won't be easy," Allura was about to stop the other Altean when he kept going. "But I'd rather fail because we trusted than doom us to failure because we didn't."

Allura allowed those words to sink in as she moved back from Coran's command area, to her raised platform.

"I hope you're right."

* * *

The leader of the Blade had little information that proved helpful to Keith as he treated the sore spots on his shoulder and side.

"So the injuries were more in my mind?"

"It was an incomplete trial, but I will admit to being impressed by your dedication and loyalty," Kolivan said handing Keith back his blade.

"Great, what I'd really like to know is about who came to Earth and was it connected to the Blue Lion.." He said as he took the knife and ran his finger against the Galra symbol.

"The Blue Lion was also on Earth?" The warrior asked as the two began the trek back towards the bridge of the castle ship. In all honesty, Keith would rather go anywhere else, but he knew that they had a mission to plan.

The rest of the group had such expressions on their face- shock, confusion, and a slice of distrust. It would take a lot to be around others who now doubted him... Allura's cold eyes made him feel so worthless, just thinking about them in his mind.

"My mom would tell me stories of alien things that I thought were just a story... but they were real. I figured the blade might have come to Earth with those stories. But Allura said that no other Galra piloted the Lions."

The thought had not occurred to him that she might not have been truthful with him, and he quickly swatted it away. He would not begin down that spiral just because she now hated him.

"That indeed is an interesting connection. I've never really believed in coincidence. Warriors of the Blade know that fate runs through us all, leading to what we are meant to do."

Keith nodded and placed his knife back under his red and white armor.

"Are there women members of the Blade?" Keith remembered part of the vision he saw during the trials. His father had said that his mother passed down the item. While he doubted that his mother was full Galra, it would make sense that maybe two people escaped in the Blue Lion to Earth. The pilot and possibly another.

"They are an important part," the leader replied, "when our numbers were many, my wife actually led the group. However, Zarkon has been ruthless when he found us."

"So you have been fighting back," Keith felt better knowing that fact.

"The Blade of Marmora existed pre-Voltron on our home world. We saw the rise of the partnership between King Alfor and King Zarkon... and the fall."

Keith listened as the Galra man gave him some information. While it didn't answer his questions, the background knowledge brought some interesting items to ponder.

"When he first attacked his Allies and began conquering planets we fought all out wars. However, his power with that witch proved too much for us, even with large numbers. We lost many in the early years. The fight shifted to covert operations. Break into their ranks, gather Intel, and search for weaknesses. We rely on the the loyalty of our numbers and the motto of death before disloyalty."

"When this is all over," Keith began to speak and stopped before entering the bridge, "I still have many questions that I'd like answers to."

"I look forward to showing you more of our heritage," Kolivan nodded and the pair entered the command center. The other paladin's were centered around a large hologram of different star maps.

A still angry looking Allura stood between Coran and Pidge, as Shiro conversed with a few other of the Blade members.

"Allies," Kolivan walked up to the hologram, "shall we discuss our mission?" And without missing a beat, the briefing began.

* * *

 _And we're going to leave off there. Hope to see you all in the next installment!_


	11. Galra Keith

_Sigh, you know the pain of losing your excellent draft to your own stupidity? Yeah, that was my life this week. Totally meant to get this up sooner, but life happens._  
 _This chapter takes place during the episodes where the team goes their separate ways to get supplies for the final showdown with Zarkon. I really enjoyed Keith and Hunk's interactions. I hope to see in the new season Keith really stepping up to have a better relationship with each member of the force._

 _Until the writers provide on the small screen, I will have to allow the bunnies to do so here._

 _Enjoy the next chapter._

* * *

Allura stood looking at the plans that came out of three hours of discussion. It seemed like it could work. She had wished her mind could focus more clearly and take a larger role in the conversations, but there was so much going on.

' _It's hard_ ,' she sighed, her arms crossed over her chest. ' _I don't want hate to control me… especially towards him. But I can't get past the part where he's…'_

Looking over to Keith, the dark haired man looked lost as well. Allura noticed the red paladin kept quiet unless he had something to add to their planning session. Each time he spoke, the princess could tell he was deeply troubled. Part of her heart wanted to at least try and comfort him, as he had her… but her legs did not move.

As Shiro and the large Galran man clasped forearms and smiled optimistically, Allura's eyes once more gazed on their allies with distrust.

"As long as we all stick to the plan, it should work." Allura spoke up.

"It will work, and then maybe you will start to realize that not all Galra are as evil as Zarkon," Kolivan responded, facing down her stare.

As Lance and the others talked, Allura averted her eyes away from the Blade members.

"I guess the only question is when do we strike?" Pidge asked.

' _Soon, I hope,_ ' Allura thought to herself as Coran brought up the schematics of the teladove.

"For this plan to succeed, we'll need to split up," Coran began looking over the list.

"We're going to need a lot of skultrite." Shiro noticed the quantity needed and rubbed his chin. "That means we need one of the larger lions to haul the skulltrite back."

"Yellow should be able to hold the bundles," Coran surmised with a nod. "We all have our part to play in this. Keith, Hunk, you will be in charge of getting the skilltrite." Coran added, and the group nodded in understanding.

"While you begin the collection of your materials, we will return to our base and prepare our part of the plan. Our operative within Zarkon's castle has provided us with the specifications of the virus. Our specialists will complete it before the teladove is complete." Kolivan added as the group prepared to depart for their lions.

"Sounds like a plan. Stay safe friends," Shiro bid the pair a farewell, but not before there was a look shared between Keith and the leader.

Allura stood silently watching as the team then filed out of the control room. While she didn't need to leave, her mission entailing taking the castle ship to the Balmara, she found herself following the group.

"If anyone of us fails, this plan fails," Coran tried to encourage the group, but instead caused the five paladins to share a serious expression.

It soon passed as their goodbyes commenced.

Her eyes warmed a bit as she watched Hunk and Pidge exchange an over the top farewell.

Each of the paladins certainly had a unique style to them, she mused. It was hard to not notice the other pair of closely bonded men. Shiro and Keith shared a brotherly embrace, and at that moment, Allura found it hard to see Keith as anything other than the man who had been so compassionate and protective of her all these weeks.

However, as she saw the pair pull away, her eyes connected with the black orbs and the walls of confusion and hate returned. Making sure not to witness his pained expression, she averted her eyes as both Keith and Hunk walked into Yellow Lion and then prepared to launch.

As if sensing her mood, her mice friends did their best to support her.

Once the large leg of Voltron left, Allura still felt lost in the hatred and sorrow mixing inside her.

 _'Please be safe... and come back. I'm trying to accept things. I really am... I just need time._ ' She silently prayed.

Leave it to Lance to pick the worst time to attempt to be charming. Her internal dialogue had barely ended when his voice caught her attention.

"So, ah, how about a kiss for good luck?" Lance raised his eyebrows a few times and puckered his lips. If it were possible to have an even colder expression on her face, she hoped it showed. Now was not the time for good luck kisses or jokes.

The Princess of Altea would forever be grateful for her loyal friend Coran taking matters into his own hands. Had the situation been less tense, she would have laughed at the face the Blue Lion pilot made after kissing the yellow mouse instead.

From there she bid the three remaining paladins and Coran safe journeys. The hanger bay seemed so large once she remained the only one left, even with the chatter of the mice, her instant reaction was a chill of loneliness.

' _No time to worry, more important things to attend to,_ ' she pepped herself up.

Walking through the hallways back to the bridge, she wondered if their plan would actually work. She didn't doubt the team and everyone doing what was needed, but an end to Zarkon's reign seemed so unobtainable for so long…

As she began her journey to secure her part in the mission, she could not help but worry.

"We're not strangers to danger," she began to think aloud. "And the paladins always seem to get themselves out of things, this is a big risk, but also our big chance."

At her feet, the mice cheered and did little tricks in an attempt to lighten her mood.

"So let's do our part!"

* * *

Allura felt fear grip at her heart once more. The beast that the team froze during their last fight on the Balmara broke free just when she had nearly completed her task.

' _I can't let this thing hurt Shay and the others,_ ' she tried to pep herself up.

"I need to lure it away from the Balmara!" Taking the controls of the castle, Allura was determined to fight this thing for as long as needed. The ship's thrusters propelled the castle up into the sky and away from the mines where the people fled.

"Time to call everyone back," she decided and opened a link to the Yellow and Blue Lions.

"Hunk, Keith are you there? Can you hear me?" She called out, forgetting all about her anger for Keith. His instant look of concern was not missed, and her heartfelt reassured that he didn't hate her for her actions… yet.

"What's wrong Princess?" He asked.

"You must return to the castle, I need you."

As the teladoves opened and the two lions came through, Allura felt a bit better about the situation.

The two lions took turns fighting against the super energized beast without must impact.

"We're going to need Voltron," Shiro's voice came over the communications link, along with the group's normal chatter.

Allura watched in horror as Yellow Lion tried to keep the enemy occupied while the others returned to get the Green and Black Lions. With the ship's particle barrier down, Allura was unsure how much longer they could survive this fight.

Even with the help of the overly eccentric scientist, Allura worried.

"We need to get closer to the Yellow Lion," the Princess spoke to the strange looking creature fiddling with the front-most control panel.

"Not going to happen, moving into the line of fire will bring about our deaths in 3,000 different realities."

Shaking her head at the crazy response from their newest guest, Allura focused back on the battle and caught the end of Hunk and Keith's conversation.

She looked on in horror as Keith left the relative safety of the Yellow Lion and pushed off for the castle. The horrible timing of the laser blast sent Keith spiraling backward, and her heart stopped, hearing his cries.

Here he was, once more endangering his life for the mission and his team, and she had the gall to judge him over a revelation he had no say with… then Red Lion swooped in to save him and hope that she could make amends returned.

' _You can do it Paladins_ ,' she closed her eyes briefly before she watched as the mighty defender of the universe formed.

The battle might not have been their easiest, but once they were all together, she was reminded of how they were an unstoppable force.

* * *

As the team regrouped in the control room, Keith felt hopeful that Allura's issues had been once more proven false. Her tone over the communication link seemed back to her normal self, and Keith longed to tell her that he felt bad for not telling her sooner of his inclinations.

' _I could have told her, maybe it wouldn't have been such a huge shock when I did… I know that she's seen how dedicated I am to the cause and to her…_ ' he stopped and patted Red before he and the others left their lions.

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were all smiles and high fives as they made their way to the bridge. So far, so good with this plan.

"Allura," he began, slightly hesitant. "Have you heard from Coran?"

He felt the question simple enough for a non-hostile answer, but Allura's instant change from her tone over the comlink to now said it all.

Gone was the hope in his dark eyes, and back once more was the wall to try to neutralize the hate coming his way.

"Yes," her tone was cold, and when she didn't even look at him, his shoulders slumped a bit.

Quickly glancing at the others, they too noticed the change.

It was weird having Lance be the one to try to relieve the tension when in the past he typically instigated it himself.

"So," the Blue Lion pilot began, "We, ah, ready to pop back through the wormhole and hop back to Alkaria?"

"Yes," a completely different Allura turned around. It felt like night and day, and Keith couldn't help feel like she had kicked him in the stomach. "I've checked in with Coran, and the teladove is nearly complete. Hunk, thank you for collecting the skulltrite." Her smile looked forced, but it still was better than the scowl he received from her.

"No problem," Hunk scratched his head and looked at Keith. The two shared a moment of understanding when the large man decided to stick up for his comrade. "You know, Keith was there too?"

That only seemed to worsen the standoff.

Thankfully, Shiro spoke up and defused the situation.

"Allura, get us on a course for Alkaria, the rest of the team, let's try and relax a bit while we can. This might be the last time we get a break before we begin the final assault on Zarkon."

* * *

It seemed that most of the group had similar ideas, and Keith found the rec room occupied with Hunk, Pidge, and Lance already on the soft couches.

While Pidge continued to scroll through her newly acquired data about prisoner transfers, Hunk leaned back and tried to relax.

Lance, as expected was laying on his back, one leg lay on the couch, the other dangled to the floor. The Blue Pilot seemed to be able to make himself comfortable in any situation. As expected, Keith came in on a bit of razzing coming from Lance, directed at Hunk.

"So, did you enjoy your quick chat with your girl?" Lance asked and Hunk slightly blushed and fidgeted. Before they group left the Balmara, they had a short time to talk with their friends. That included Hunk's special friend Shay.

Keith thought it was good that they were making so many allies in their random adventures leading to this moment. And if Hunk found someone that he liked, well, Keith felt happy for his comrade.

' _Leave it to Lance to make such a bid deal about it,_ ' Keith sighed and wondered if he should find somewhere else to cool down. However, before he could turn around, another figure came up behind him.

Shiro's cybernetic hand rested on Keith's shoulder and encouraged him to fully enter the room.

Keith went to sit next to Pidge, while Shiro found room on the curved couch near Lance's feet.

"Oh, give me a break Lance. At least I can say I've had success in getting a girl to like me." Hunk huffed and crossed his arms, not appreciating the teasing.

Keith chuckled a bit at the interaction. That reaction got Lance to sit up and smugly smile his way.

"And what do you have to laugh at Mr. Fallen From Grace?" Lance pivoted his target to the Red Lion pilot.

"Excuse me?" Keith's deadpanned look tried to hide the fact that Lance was once again getting on his nerves.

"I don't know exactly what you did to piss off Allura, but don't worry, I'm here to sweep her off her feet in your place. The perfect soldier is no longer so perfect I guess." The brown haired man used his hands to mimic a gun blasting Keith.

"I didn't do anything," Keith replied, shoving his hands in his pockets to conceal the fact his fists were balled.

' _I really didn't do anything... it is Allura who seems to have changed_.'

"Well, you suddenly became Galran," Lance replied. "And your loss is my gain. They don't call me Sharpshooter for nothing! Blasting the bad guys, blasting away the competition!"

"How is Keith finding out about his ancestry you blasting away the competition?" Hunk asked, "And what's with this Sharpshooter thing?"

"It's my nickname. Or haven't you heard?"

Keith looked to Shiro who gave a shrug and went back to watching the conversation.

"You can't give yourself a nickname." Hunk interjected.

"Everyone calls me that." Lance countered, putting his nose up in the air a bit, trying to look confident in what Keith suspected was a lie.

' _Back at the academy there were a few other things that people called him,_ ' Keith mused, thinking back on the few years he spent at the Garrison school.

"I thought everyone called you the tailor?" Pidge asked, referencing their failed simulation experience.

Hunk chuckled, and Keith felt like he missed something.

"I'd like to hear what your awesome nicknames are then!" Lance's voice gave away his anger and displeasure in the tables being turned. He was now the target of the razzing.

"Well, they aren't names you normally get to pick," Pidge explained. "And I guess Pidge is my nickname."

"But what kind of nickname is that?" Lance asked. "I'd say you're more of a nerd or geekazoid."

"For your info, my brother gave me that name, and I think it's much more original than Sharpshooter." Pidge huffed, and Hunk placed a supporting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't look at me, Hunk is my nickname as well," the larger man said when Lance looked at him. "Tsuyoshi is my real name. And don't ask, it's a long story."

"What about you two?" Pidge asked. "I know that I heard people call Shiro Legend a few times at the Academy, and Keith was Top Class or something like that."

"You mean, Drop Out," Lance smirked once more at a non-phased Keith.

' _I figured my rep at the Garrison went down the tubes after I left. I doubt my records were retained. Probably scrubbed out of the trophies and such as well._ ' He sighed internally.

Deep down the sadness that something he had held in -at least some- esteem mistreated him continued to bother him. However, compared to the current darkness in his life, this out shadowed those feelings easily.

Keith shrugged and removed his hands from his pockets.

"I don't regret leaving that place. And we would never have found the Blue Lion if I hadn't left those lying assholes." Keith replied and instinctively pulled out his blade.

The group watched in silence as the dagger turned into a long sword, glowing a light purple and dark gray.

"Did Kolivan tell you anything useful on how that got to Earth in the first place?" Shiro asked sitting up and hunching over so that his elbows rested on his knees.

Keith shook his head.

"I've got some theories, and coincidence is just too perfect for both the Blue Lion AND this blade to be there... but I need to do a lot of research into it all. My Galran ancestor could have ridden to Earth with the Blue Lion, I doubt that they were the original pilot... but several people can fit comfortably in the cockpit alone." Keith finally voiced some of his thoughts on the matter.

"So you think more aliens came to Earth?"

"I don't know, at least one did. But without looking more into the history of the Lions and the events after Coran and Allura were frozen... I'm sorry I kept my initial suspicions from you," Keith looked up at his mentor and brother.

"It's a lot to take in," Shiro nodded his understanding.

"So, I guess Keith's new nickname is Galra Keith," Lance suggested trying in his way to make the situation lighter but failing.

"Hey, I'll have you know that Galra Keith has a sense of humor," Hunk defended with a smile. "You should have heard him back in the Weblum."

"I know it must be hard to take all this in, but on the bright side, we have this connection with the Blade now," Pidge spoke up, trying to spin this as a positive. "And I'm sure Allura will come around... sometime... maybe."

Keith chuckled at that last comment.

' _I hope she does. I can't stand much more of this. I once thought of this place as a home, but recently it hasn't felt like that at all_.'

As the others continued their talk about nicknames and theories on how Galra he was, Keith continued to stare at his sword in wonder.

He didn't feel like he changed enough to activate the blade, but somehow when he held it, the magic within the tiny object grew. It was a strange sensation, similar to the feeling he got when in the lions.

' _Magic, huh? There has to be more to it than that_.' He thought leaning back against the couch and watching the blade deactivate so he could put it away.

* * *

The team landed on Alkaria without incident. While Allura and Coran worked with Slav and the Alkari people to complete the last of the prep, the Voltron Force stood overlooking the horizon atop a tall building.

It was peaceful.

That was something they were not used to, but it felt good.

Keith pushed all the Blade of Marmora and Allura drama out of his mind and just enjoyed the setting sun paint the sky with oranges, reds, and yellows.

' _I always liked watching the sunset,_ ' he thought to himself.

"What is everyone thinking about?" Pidge asked breaking the silence as they stared off into the sky.

"Zarkon."

"Calzones."

Keith couldn't keep the laugh from escaping his lips at Hunk's classic reply.

' _Leave it to Hunk to bring food into this moment._ '

"Hey! Why does it always have to be about Zarkon? He's evil, I get it. I'm hungry," the Yellow Lion pilot defended himself.

"Don't worry about it Hunk," Keith replied. "If you had said anything else, I might have been concerned you were getting cold feet."

"Ah, thanks, Galra Keith."

The group all laughed at the pair's conversation, and Keith felt accepted in many new ways with the team. In the last day, the group really came together and bonded.

 _'I feel more like part of the team for some reason. They always accepted me, well, except Lance's jabs... but now, even he seems to have lessened the animosity._ '

"We've come a long way," Keith felt empowered and ready to take on the likes of Zarkon with these people.

' _And when we succeed, we can free the rest of the galaxies._ '

"You realize once we defeat Zarkon," Shiro began in a serious tone looking at each one of the group, "the universe won't need Voltron anymore."

"We can head back to Earth," Keith could hear the longing in Lance's voice. In all of this, he still didn't know much about the Blue Lion pilot.

' _Of course, they all have family back on Earth,_ ' he reasoned. ' _It must be nice to have that._ '

"I can look for my family." Pidge sounded nothing but determined to find her brother and father. Keith had been impressed by the young woman of the team. There had always been something that told him she hid something. When she finally told them of her gender, it didn't bother or really surprise him. She was a good soldier and valued team member no matter her gender.

"I guess I could look for mine." He voiced his next steps. It sounded so simple, but he knew it was anything but.

"This is it, as long as everything goes according to plan, we can't fail."

* * *

 _And there we have the end of chapter 11. The rewrite went rather easily, so that is good. Just a bit of sad panda emotions when I realized I needed to write it all again._

 _Next chapter will be up soon, and it should contain the MUCH needed fluff. Angsty Keith and Allura are no fun!_


	12. Come Back to Me

_Ch 12_

 _We closing in on the end of season 2, but the plot bunnies are going strong!_  
 _Here we have additions to episode 12. We pick up this chapter right when things start to unravel with the plan against Zarkon._

 _So some of the dialogue has been altered as in past- and for those of you in the K/A shipping persuasion, you get some actual fluff!_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

"We need to abort the mission," the leader of the Blade of Marmora stated in a concerned tone. The two Galra figures stood on the bridge in front of Allura's platform, where she stood. Keith could not help but look at her to see her expression with that statement.

As he assumed, her expression held anger.

"Abort?" Her tone told him that his observation to be spot on. Turning to see the seasoned fighter's expression, it held one of control and seriousness.

"The Blade of Marmora does not take chances," Antok spoke up in defense of his superior's decision to the princess and her tone. "It is how we have survived for so long."

Keith knew that Allura would not take kindly to that comment.

"It has held you back," her reply came with venom dripping from her words. "It is the reason Zarkon has been in power."

Wanting to stick up for the group, Keith forced himself to hold his tongue instead. She needed to see that others had also been complacent in the growth of the forces of evil.

"We would rather wait than jeopardize the mission. Besides, it is too late to get someone else on the inside." Kolivan's words made sense, but Keith and the others knew that it was now or never. They would not get another chance like this.

They had to continue... he would do what he needed to do. Now.

"I'll do it."

* * *

Her anger felt as if it would burst through her head. The reluctance of these supposed allies infuriated her.

' _How can we succeed if we are not willing to risk failure? These Paladins put their lives on the line. Shiro is sitting out there as bait... and they want to cancel the mission? Unbelievable, when we pulled all these small miracles together!'_

"We would rather wait than jeopardize the mission. Besides, it is too late to get someone else on the inside."

Her fists balled at her sides, it was all she could do to not unleash a scathing comment back at them once more.

"I'll do it."

From the side, Keith's familiar form rose from his station to her right.

"What?" Her eyes went wide, and it felt like the air left her lungs after the gasped word left her lips.

' _No, Keith..._ ' her heart thudded, and the determined man stood there, with no intention of backing down.

"I'll sneak onto Zarkon's ship…" His voice was strong and did not waiver when the probability of his survival arose from the Blade members.

Allura watched the expression on his face change from one of courage to one that almost pleaded for the group to give him a chance. No doubt he would want to try and prove to them he was good… something that she already knew deep down.

"No one is commanding me, I'm doing it."

No one knew what to say after that. The group's quiet ended when their leader, already sitting in his lion's cockpit spoke up.

"Pidge get that pod ready; Keith, let me know when you're ready to go, I'll give you cover."

Shiro's voice sounded resigned to the concept that Keith's apparent suicide mission came as their only option. Allura simply watched as Pidge and Keith left the bridge in a hurry to get the pod ready for launch- emotions welling inside.

The silence of the room told of the gravity of Keith's volunteered effort in the mission. It meant everything at that moment. Their success now rested on his shoulders.

"Hunk, Lance, I want you in your lions and ready to launch when needed. I've got my work cut out for me with getting Keith's pod past the fleet. I may need back up."

Allura now found herself alone on the bridge with the two Blade members. The pair quietly conversed about something, probably about the mission and how they were still not comfortable with the modified plan.

' _He's going off once more.._.' she told herself. ' _He's doing this selfless thing even when I've treated him so badly. No, he can't leave like this... I can't let him go off.'_

Without warning, her heart and legs cooperated and had her running out the doors after the others towards the hanger bay area.

As she entered the room, she noticed Pidge finishing the installation of the cloaking device. She wasn't too late.

"Pidge, may I have a moment with Keith please." She couldn't quite get her tone to lighten. She wasn't angry at Keith, she was worried and mad at herself.

"Sure thing," the young woman looked briefly at her and then to Keith, "take all the moments you need."

Once Pidge left the room, Allura walked slowly closer to Keith. How could she tell him she was sorry for how she treated him? How could she let him know that she cared- really cared for him? He was leaving her, and this time... deep down, she hoped her feeling of him not coming back was false.

"Is there something I can help you with Princess?" He asked in a defeated tone. It was so different than his normal voice, and she knew that the blame for that sadness was on her.

"I just wanted to say, the Galra have done terrible things. Destroyed whole civilizations. They took my family. But in time, I've grown to consider all of you as my family. But with you… it's a bit different." She stopped and looked to see him looking at her with guarded, but hopeful eyes. "So when I learned that you are part of them, I didn't know what to think. I wanted to hate you."

"Allura, it's," Keith started to look away- any hope in his expression now gone with her last few words.

"But it is not you, it's me. My anger had blinded me for too long."

At that moment, she didn't know what to do. Her eyes met his briefly before Keith's orbs turned away once more, towards his open right hand at his side.

Without thinking, she closed the distance between them, embracing her knight fully.  
His reaction did not surprise her in the least, but instead of letting him back away from her, she held on to his paladin armor the best she could.

"I was wrong, so wrong," Allura finally allowed herself to voice the words. "I treated you so horribly, and the only explanation I can give was that I didn't want to think that the Galra could be anything other than what Zarkon did... you've proven it's not what is in your blood that counts. You are so much more than what anyone says about you Keith Kogane."

Allura took a deep breath, inhaling the scent that was distinctly Keith. He often reminded her of a fresh smelling herb, she couldn't name it, but it had a bit of spice to it. She rested her head on his shoulder as he slowly relaxed to her closeness. Gently, he moved his hand to rest on the small of her back.

It was a new sensation for her; the touch was warm and comforting. Pushing herself on, she needed to tell him... beg his forgiveness.

"You have shown me kindness, loyalty, courage, protectiveness... just who you are is enough. It always has, but I've been blinded by hate, and I can't do that anymore. Keith," she stopped and tilted her head upwards to look at his face.

Her hesitancy faded at the look that met her- Keith was smiling down at her with his dark eyes and hair contrasted against his lightly tanned skin.

"Please, come back to me, I don't want to think of this life without you at my side."

"Princess, I'll come back," his voice sounded much happier as he pulled her to him a bit tighter.

"You must, I command it." The tears threatened to leak as she felt the relief spread through her body.

' _He doesn't hate me..._ ' she smiled seeing the forgiveness and understanding in his eyes.

"Well, if it's a command," he gave her what she could only describe as a flirty smirk at that. It had her heart swell. "I need you to know, I get it. And I don't blame you at all. It's been a tough few months for the group. But, when I get back, there's something I want us to discuss."

Allura nodded at his words, feeling free.

Before she could say anything else, Keith's face drew closer and his free hand went up to touch her face. Without warning, a tender kiss brushed across her lips. At first, Allura thought she was dreaming, but he went back for another, and she responded. Leaning in, her eyes closed and the Princess of Altea savored her first kiss.

It felt so right, like nothing else in the world mattered. The glorious contact ended sooner than she would have liked, as Shiro's voice called out to them from the ship's communication link.

As Keith pulled back, he tenderly wiped away the stray tear on her cheek.

"Keith," she stopped as he placed a finger to her slightly swollen lips.

"Wish me luck." He smiled as he backed away from her and climbed into the shuttle.

The warmth that came with his close contact soon vanished and Allura stood there wishing things could be different. Her hands went up to cover her mouth as she stepped back to a safe distance.

"Good luck my love," she smiled at that word. She did love him. And she hoped that they all survived this operation in order for them to really talk things through.

* * *

Keith felt his heart threaten to burst.

 _'She doesn't hate me_ ,' he smiled. His fingers brushed his slightly puffy lips, savoring the contact. If his life ended today, it would be a sweet memory to recall.

' _No, you're not going to die.'_ Keith shook his head and tried to focus on the mission. Taking both controls in his hands, the red pilot flew straight for Zarkon's main ship.

The journey certainly had many bumps, but Shiro and the others provided him the cover to get to his destination. The landing was not one he would talk about later, but it did the trick to take out several of the guards in his way.

Jumping out of the cockpit, Keith ran with full power towards the console he needed to find. He knew that the plan relied on his success and until that happened, they were all in danger out in space.

As the doors to the darkened room opened, Keith walked to the computer station at the end of a bridge-like walkway. The purple lights and hum of the system had him momentarily distracted.

"I'm in," he reported and listened for Kolivan's instructions.

"It doesn't seem to be working," he tried to not let the panic show in his voice. The noise of the door opening, had his head up and looking for a hiding spot. Ducking behind the side console, he watched in silence as the injured Galra tried to access the panel.

Suddenly there were three magic users that entered and began to attack. The paladin did not hesitate to get involved and threw his blade in the air, instantly killing one of the enemies.

His mind felt relief spread through his limbs briefly seeing the blade of the other Galra. Together, the pair made short work of the remaining fighters.

"The Galra switched the code, we're working on a work around," he reported to the team after hearing Lance call out his call for help. The group was in trouble if they didn't get that virus uploaded now. The short conversation with the Blade member, had Keith once more happy to see the strength of their allies. But their time together ended shortly after with a mass of enemies coming at them.

After shooting the pillar to close the doorway, Keith felt saddened leaving his newly met comrade. At first, he wanted to stay thinking he could provide cover for Face, but the other man would not allow him to give up his life. The parting words echoed in his mind as the lone fighter jet packed through the Galra base towards an exit.

"Paladin, this is where my journey ends, but as a member of Voltron, you have a bigger mission. You must understand that."

Keith knew that. He was part of something bigger. They were counting on him to come out alive.

* * *

Allura stood at the helm of the castle ship, listening for any word that Keith was successful. The timing was coming down to the wire. The teladove was exposed, Zarkon's ship was still functional, and Keith had not responded for a time.

She tried to not let the situation pull her away from what she needed to do.

"We cannot wait any longer," she said in a serious tone, "I'm powering up the teladove now."

As the ship and ring like structure began to light up, Zarkon's ship went dark.

When red lion left the castle, her heart felt overjoyed for a brief moment, and then went back to her role within the plan.

"Uploading the virus now," Kolivan said, and the massive ship sat dead in space. The mission was going ahead as planned.

Closing her eyes, Allura concentrated on the energy flowing through her and the structure. The pressure weighed on her until she could give no more. Collapsing to the floor, her mice friends quickly surrounded her. Coran too came to her aid, gently cradling her in his arms.

"You did great princess."

She could barely hear the others, her body was too numb from the power exertion, but a smile came to her lips when the familiar words 'Let's form Voltron' registered in her mind.

 _'Be careful out there… all of you._ '

* * *

 _And with that dear reader, we shall close this installment of the story. We got some fluff, and obviously there will be more! Please take a sec and leave a comment and let me know how things are going or thoughts you'd like to share._

 _Thanks go out to those who have left carrots for the plot bunnies... we shall need them once we're in uncharted waters of my predictions of season 3!_


	13. The Unknown

_Ch13- The Unknown  
_

 _And now dear reader, we head off into uncharted territory with the end of season 2 hitting this story's timeline._

 _I was happy with the final battle but wanted a bit more of Keith focus. Don't get me wrong, Shiro is super cool, but it is all about the mullet for me- well, in this version of the series it is a baby mullet._

 _So we'll get a bit of more Keith introspective and then the end of the battle, and from there on, it is all the plot bunnies! Run free plot bunnies!_

 _Also, I'm headed to San Diego Comic Con, so the plot bunnies will be even more inspired for future chapters!_

* * *

Zarkon's ray hit the Lions hard. The quintessence beam came as more than a surprise, knocking them all out of commission for a brief period.

Keith felt sluggish to focus, as did his fellow pilots. Coran's warning didn't do them much good as Zarkon appeared in a massive suit of armor himself.

"Remember your training!" Allura encouraged them, and Keith knew that now was not the time let her down.

Seeing the castle ship heading straight for Zarkon had him staring in disbelief.

' _Allura! No!_ ' He bit his tongue to keep from shouting out as Zarkon hit their home and her screams came over the comlink.

Red Lion began to burn with a righteous rage thinking that once again Allura was injured trying to help them.

"I'm not giving up the fight," Shiro spoke to them, wanting to build up their motivation. "Are you Hunk?"

"No," came the reply from Yellow Lion.

"Pidge?"

"Never."

"Lance?"

"Let's go down swinging!"

"Keith?"

"I'm all in." He spoke up, a renewed energy flowing through him and Red Lion. "Listen to your lion's guys; we've only unlocked a fraction of what we can do together."

"Keith's right, let's get back into this battle and show the universe that we are Voltron!"

The team fought after that as they had never fought before... even with their enemy and his endless power supply, they fought.

The massive extendable sword Zarkon wielded, his glowing wing-like appendages jutting out, and the powerful beams kept the pilots on their toes.

In one solid blow, the connected Lions were forced apart.

"Shiro?" Keith was quick to rebound from the last hit. Soon he had verbal confirmation that the others were alright, except for Shiro.

"Buddy? Talk to me!" No reply came, but Keith could not dwell on that. They had four lions operating, and they needed to keep Shiro safe till he woke up. "Guys, we've got to keep Zarkon away from Black. Hit him with all you've got."

The four lions all used their laser cannons to try and contain the evil monster they fought.

"Shiro, listen to Black. He's there for you! For you and not Zarkon! Fight to free Black, Shiro!" Keith shouted as a well-placed hit had Red and the others reeling.

His vision blurred a bit after the last attack, but then a streak of black came on the screen, and Keith sighed in relief.

"I've got Zarkon's Bayard," Shiro's shaky voice came through, as Black Lion re-entered the fight.

"You mean you've got your Bayard," Keith smiled through the pain of being thrown around by Zarkon.

"We've only got a few minutes left before all power returns to Zarkon's ship. Form Voltron!"

* * *

Keith felt frantic as he exited Red Lion and ran towards the Black Lion. He and Pidge had deposited the lifeless beast on the hangar bay floor after the final battle ended. Deep down he knew something was wrong, sensors and communications continued to show nothing from within the cockpit.

He dropped his helmet and ran as fast as he could.

"Shiro! Shiro?" He called as he was the first to enter the cockpit of the Black Lion.

The empty space before him knocked all thought out of his head and had him staggering back a step.

"Shiro?" Of the many outcomes of the final battle with Zarkon, having your leader disappear into thin air didn't make the top anticipated or even fathomed list. And yet, here they were.

"He's gone…"

The team remained in a shocked silence, as Keith ventured further into the lion and found an empty seat and Bayard left in the controls.

His stomach knotted, and he felt as if he would be sick. Taking his hand, he wiped his face knowing that now was not the time for him to lose it.

' _If I don't make it, I want you to lead,'_ Shiro's words reverberated in his mind.

"No," Keith breathed out as he placed a hand on the seat's headrest and looked to the team.

"What? I mean, how?" Pidge asked, looking wide-eyed at Keith.

"Shiro, stop playing around," Lance tried to make it all out to be a prank, that their leader wasn't gone. He soon realized that this was not a joke, but reality.

"How can this be?" Allura asked, sounding utterly exhausted. She stepped closer to the pilot's seat but stopped as a sharp cry came from her lips.

Watching her movement, Keith noticed her legs wobble slightly. He instantly went to catch her before she fell.

"Allura?" The group called in worry.

"I'm alright…" She lied looking from Keith to the others.

"Princess, you are still exhausted from using all your powers, you need rest," Coran spoke up in a concerned tone, one that the rest of the crew shared.

"We need to find out where Shiro went." Hunk used his nervous hand gestures to try and mask the worry in his voice.

"Guys," Keith spoke up and got everyone's attention. With Allura back on her feet, leaning against Coran for support, Keith knew he needed to get control before they spiraled into a panic state.

 _'Take the lead Keith… you owe it to Shiro and them… get control, make a plan, bring Shiro back,'_ he told himself.

"Standing and freaking out is not going to accomplish anything. We need to regroup and figure things out." Keith tried to sound authoritative and also calming. He hoped that it was working.

Keith continued his orders, seeing that they all looked to him now.

"We're in no state to do much at the moment. I want Hunk, and Pidge to get working on any repairs the Lions need. Lance, help them with that for now. We can't assume that this is all over yet. Coran, make sure Allura rests before working with Slav to get the castle back up to fighting shape. Scanners are a priority. I want images of the surrounding areas, any emergency pods, or ways that…" He stopped knowing that it was ridiculous to think that Shiro jettisoned out of Black, but it could be possible. They needed to cover all bases.

"Keith, what do you plan to do?" Allura asked pushing off Coran's support for a moment, reaching out to touch his hand.

He felt comforted by the gesture, and for a brief moment, his mind flashed images of their kiss from before the battle.

 _'Not now Keith,_ ' he chastised himself and hoped his cheeks didn't flush red.

"I'm going to access the computers here in Black, see what I can find out. I need you... um, I need your help later… I mean we're… we will need your knowledge on the lions." He said taking his hand away from hers and scratching his head in embarrassment.

Luckily it didn't seem that anyone noticed and instead were ready to follow orders.

"Any questions?" He asked his comrades and sighed as he saw the looks that they all gave off. "Get the Lions worked on, then get cleaned up. Meet on the bridge in thirty. Let's go!" Briefly, he marveled at the reply of "Right!" from the others in unison. However, it still felt strange that they looked to him so easily.

 _'I'm not going to get used to this… we're going to bring Shiro back. He's meant to be the leader.'_

Soon Keith found himself left alone in Black Lion and it felt off. The last few times he sat in the command chair of the Black Lion had not necessarily been relaxing situations.

' _What I wouldn't give for a battle where Shiro just needed to sit it out over this mess,_ ' he mused as he allowed himself to close his eyes and lean back into the pilot's seat.

' _Black, where is he?_ '

Nothing.

No voices, no visions, no inclining of what to do came from the magical beast as in the past, and it scared Keith.

Pulling up the computer systems, Keith found limited power left in the energy core cells. Using his wrist computer, he began to download the files from Black.

 _'You're tired; I get it… but we need to find Shiro. He's important to our group and me.'_

Still nothing.

Keith sighed as he finished the data transfer.

"I think we've got enough juice now, how about we move you to your spot?" Keith asked, taking the controls. The sense of unease continued, but the lion slowly complied. When he got Black Lion into its space, he noticed that Pidge and Hunk were already working on the others.

' _How did all of this get so messed up?'_

Before shutting down the power source, Keith looked over at the Bayard, still in its docking panel. Hesitating for a short time, he decided to take the black and white weapon with him. It came out without trouble, and Keith stood looking at it in his hand.

Had the device been harder to remove, he might have felt of curiosity, he activated the device, and similar to his red one, a laser sword emerged. It felt very powerful, something much more than his other blades. Deactivating it quickly, he felt uneasy with Shiro's weapon.

Exiting the lion, he was met with concerned looked from the three other Earthlings.

"Black needs a recharge," he informed them. "I have the computer files and am heading to the bridge to get them loaded up."

"Keith, shouldn't you take a break as well?" Lance asked trying not to sound like he was being disparaging or making light of the situation at all.

"I've got to find him, Lance…" Keith responded, "He'd look night and day for any of us."

"He would, but as you said, we're no help if we are dead on our feet. You gave us thirty minutes, but shouldn't you also take a breather?"

Keith found no mocking in Lance's words, it was nice too, for once not have to fight with the Blue Lion pilot.

"Thanks for the concern, I'll start the search, and then I'll take my break." Keith put his hand on Lance's shoulder. "Pidge, Hunk, can you see to Black before you clean up?"

* * *

Sitting in his regular seat in the control room, Keith went through the data pulled from Black Lion. The instrument readings seemed normal until the point where Shiro got control of the Bayard. That was when the lion appeared to reach a new level of power.

 _'It makes sense_ ,' Keith thought as he stopped and watched a playback of the cockpit heart monitors. _'There was a spike in Shiro's stats, he had to finally kick Zarkon out to gain control of the Bayard... and with that, he bonded fully with Black Lion… bonded fully…'_

He stopped; his mind didn't seem to want to let that piece of information go. Just what would happen if they completely bonded with their lions? Had the other pilots from 10,000 years ago accomplished that level of connectivity?

Between him and Red, there still seemed so much more left to connect with. Yes, he knew his bond was strong with his lion enough for Red to instinctively know when he was in trouble and be able to move without him in the pilot's seat. But, was that a complete bonding? He didn't have to fight off Zarkon and his powerful clutch on the lion.

So many new questions bombarded his mind as he keyed up the point in the data where Shiro formed the sword with his newly acquired bayard. Keith remembered the surge of power that poured forth from Black into the Red Lion at that point... the blaze it created was magnificent.

After that, the Lions broke apart as Zarkon's form exploded along with the majority of his ship. Pulling up the star maps, he found the rubble still drifting in space.

"Did we do it? Is Zarkon really gone?" He asked aloud, not expecting anyone to answer. His heart told him to be cautious in thinking it was over from the Galra Empire. As a trained fighter, he knew that those down the chain of command could be just a stubborn as their defeated leaders.

"I would like to think we did," came a feminine voice behind him. Keith didn't need to turn around to know who had answered him. "But my gut tells me something different."

Allura walked into the room and up towards where Keith sat. She looked down at the multiple lighted screens before him and then to the central projection of the scraps of a mother ship that remained in space.

"I'm getting the same feeling," Keith acknowledged her comment with a concerned nod.

"Any luck on all of this?" She asked him, as he forced his eyes to look away from her. The soft fabrics of her flowing dress seemed to have her floating more so than normal.

' _Cool it Keith; this is not the time to turn into Lance, we kissed once… I'd ah, like to do it again, but not now.'_

"Nothing that seems to answer any of my questions. Actually, I have about a dozen more than when I started." He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.

To his surprise, Allura took hold of his hands and held them for a time. He watched in silence as she appeared to be examining his lightly tanned skin. His hands weren't particularly pretty. They had callouses from hard work and even a few scars from times when he'd gotten cut working on his speeder bike back home.

Compared to her slender hands, they must look a fright, and yet she was holding them with such kindness.

"Princess?" He finally voiced out something, not knowing what to do in that situation. Pushing off, out of his seat, he took her slightly by surprise when he stood and squeezed her hands.

"I was so worried," she spoke in a hushed tone. "When you all were fighting. I felt like I couldn't help, but I needed to…"

"Now you know how I feel when you go out and fight too, but you were so brave. You fought off the witch, gave us a chance to put Zarkon's mech out of commission. Princess, don't ever let anyone tell you that you are weak or powerless. Hell, I'm sure you could kick all our butts if you tried." He chuckled a bit thinking back to when they first found out Alteans had some massive strength to them.

"What are we going to do?" Her eyes looked lost when they finally came up to meet his.

Not liking that expression on her face, Keith pulled her into an embrace.

"We're going to keep fighting till there is no longer a trace of Zarkon's empire left. We'll figure out what to do."

"Thank you, Keith. I needed that," she allowed herself to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Don't thank me yet, I'm not as well experienced as Shiro, but you have my vow, I'll die trying." His words were serious, and he allowed her to pull back slightly after a moment of silence.

Keith smiled as her expression softened for him. If he could do one thing for her at that moment, he wished to be able to lift her spirits.

' _Her hope and positive spirit holds this team together. The last few days have been tough on everyone, not just me facing her anger.'_

"You're still exhausted from your fight with that witch and not to mention the toll you took with the teladove… why don't you take a break? Get a little sleep?" He asked, trying to bring things back to the present.

"And when will you rest?"

"Neither of us will take a break, will we?" Keith asked feeling bold with their closeness. Their last conversation in the hanger bay pushed itself to the front of his mind again. He wondered if it was in hers as well.

"Coran says I'm as stubborn as a Cortrax." She closed her eyes and sighed.

"I can see that," he tried to envision what an alien style mule might look like and once more smiled. "Allura…"

"Keith…"

The swishing of the doors broke the couple apart.

 _'Figures_ ,' Keith sighed internally but then thought it might be for the best. Looking at Allura briefly as he then turned to those entering the room, he noticed a flush on her cheeks. Now was not the time to allow themselves to fall into raw emotions. They had a job to do; he needed to focus on the task at hand.

"Princess, you're back here already?" Coran sounded slightly surprised.

"I couldn't sleep," she offered her advisor a weak smile.

Keith watched the exchange for a brief moment and slipped back into his seat, resuming his work. The thirty minutes seemed to go by quickly as the rest of the team appeared, looking slightly less exhausted, cleaned up at the very least.

"Any luck?" Pidge asked sounding hopeful.

"Very little," Keith replied as he stood up.

"So Shiro just vanished?" Hunk inquired taking a seat on Allura's control platform near Keith's console.

"This isn't a magic trick," Lance sounded skeptical at Hunk's choice of terms, "Is it?"

"I don't want us speculating on things wildly," Keith spoke up, trying to get ahead of the downward spiral that could happen. "I think that part of the information we need is somewhere in the castle's systems. We need to figure out what the former pilots could do and understand how deep the bonds can go."

"So you think that Black Lion and Shiro bonded to the point that he's gone?" Pidge restated what she thought Keith was alluding to.

"I don't want to rule anything out. Pidge, you and Coran work on piecing back together any records from King Alfor's time. I've already asked the Blade of Marmora to do the same with their files."

"And us?" Lance asked pointing to Hunk and himself.

"I want you and Hunk to take your Lions out and search the debris. Any signs of Shiro, Zarkon, some of that quintessence…"

"We've got Slav working on boosting the scanners as well," Coran added to the mix and Keith nodded.

' _What we also need to know now is the power structure left on the Galra home planet._ ' His tactical side reminded him. They weren't just looking to find Shiro; they also needed to keep on the offensive now that a major blow had been struck. If they waited too long, another tyrant could come into power.

"Allura, any information you can remember from your father, would be of use. We're starting from a place that none of us wants to be…" Keith assessed the others and once more found slight surprise that they were listening and agreeing with him. "But we've been there before. We've shown the galaxy what we can do, but it isn't over like we had thought. This is bigger than we knew… And we need to trust in our allies for assistance while we continue to dismantle what Zarkon built."

"Keith's right!" Hunk stepped up.

"So I guess we get things in order and continue the fight," the Lance added.

"Um, guys... I don't mean to be a worry wort, but we're kind of down a pilot until we find Shiro." Pidge looked at each of the group and stopped with Keith.

"No we aren't," Allura interjected, taking a few steps forward and turning to look at the group. She now stood in front of the Earthlings and her advisor. "I will pilot a lion."

* * *

 _And we're going to leave it there! Of course Allura needs to be piloting the lions! Two lady pilots people!_

 _Anyway, as I mentioned, I am off to SDCC soon, and if Twitter isn't lying to me, the Voltron panel will have the first episode of season three in it... so there is potential that my story will depart from the series in bigger ways from now on, but I'm fine with that if you are!_

 _Thanks for the reviews. See you next time!_


	14. Changes All Around

_Hello all, sorry this was posted later than I expected. SDCC was amazing and the first episode of season three was epic! Not to mention all the Voltron swag I picked up on the exhibit floor and from the panel! I kind of see where the writers are taking this show, but this chapter is what I would have liked to see. Don't worry, no spoilers are contained within and again note that since I am changing the story line, it won't be as choppy or episodic anymore._

 _With that said, only a few days till they drop the next seven episodes!_

 _And LOTS of fluff in this chapter!_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Allura looked at herself in front of the tall mirror in her room. The newly cleaned and pressed fabric slipped on over her tired and slightly sore frame effortlessly.

Closing her eyes, she let a smile linger on her face as she forced all the of worries out of her mind. Since telling the others she would pilot a lion, her days became exponentially busier, but something else happened. Behind the controls of the mighty lion, she felt more connected with her father than ever. While the world around her remained a mess- Shiro still missing, Keith trying to train her and the others on more advanced flying skills, and the remnants of Zarkon's forces still lingering across the galaxies- she enjoyed the chance to be closer to the fight for liberation.

After a bit of trial and error, the team seemed to settle in with her piloting the Blue Lion. Given her current skills, trying to take over Keith's ownership of the Red Lion seemed too great a feat to accomplish. Instead, Keith gave his bayard to the loud mouthed pilot with the fiery spirit. It took time for the very stubborn Red Lion to accept his new paladin, but the team soon found their stride with Lance as the Red Lion pilot and Allura in Blue.  
With the new team dynamics and new bonds to forge, the group remained unable to summon the legendary defender, for the moment.

' _I wish they wouldn't worry so,_ ' she sighed understanding that even when the five new paladins arrived, it took them some time before they could connect to become Voltron. But she knew the pressure they all faced when helping other planets fight against their captors. Everyone wanted to see the mighty legend.

' _Voltron is so much more than a single weapon,_ ' opening her eyes she looked at her reflection. She certainly felt older and wiser after these short few months awake. The pilots had taught her that a single fighter could mean so much in the battle for freedom. On multiple occasions, they had all meant the difference between defeat and success.

Pidge had consistently impressed her with the technological mind the young woman possessed. Hunk saved the day on multiple occasions with his strange skulltrite cookies and being able to harness the Yellow Lion's unique claw and blaster abilities. Lance... well, Lance was Lance. He had certainly been helpful in several situations like when the castle was over taken, and he shot the Galran invaders. In his own special way, the former Blue Lion pilot seemed to grow up a lot as well, rallying behind Keith during these trying days more than she had ever thought possible.

With Shiro's absence, she also saw how one person could impact the mood of the group. And that is what worried her.  
While they all mourned the loss of their leader, one paladin, in particular, seemed to linger in her mind the most when it came to worrying.

The princess of Altea flushed slightly as her eyes found a fading mark on her neck. Her fingers instinctively went up and brushed the skin as her smile only increased.

The defeat of Zarkon and her piloting the Blue Lion had not been the only changes around the castle. The connection between the princess and her now commander also changed after their conversation in the hangar bay before the showdown with Zarkon.

For the first day after Shiro's disappearance, the brief moment of hand holding on the bridge remained the only contact they shared. Keith flew Red Lion around the debris field for a time after she offered to take over the mantle of Lion pilot.

It hurt that he seemed to ignore her and the others after Coran suggested that they move on to the next planet that the Blade of Marmoura suggested they liberate.

' _I feel guilty that I cornered him as I did,_ ' Allura thought as she remembered day three of the search.

* * *

 _The team had been depressed and afraid to speak to their new leader. Keith seemed like a ball of rage, worse than they ever encountered in the past. Allura knew he was hurting and her heart wanted nothing more than to console him._  
 _She had not meant for a yelling session to ensure, but in many ways, the two needed to air out their concerns and pressures pushing on them both._

 _"How am I supposed to lead this group into battle? We're so unprepared and now with you flying?" His voice had been loud and echoed in the training room. Allura had caught him while he attempted to center himself in his martial arts once more._

 _"I'm sorry you think so little of me." She yelled back, "but we don't have a choice, you don't have a choice! You need to stop moping and be the leader of this group like I know you can be and I'm going to pilot a lion!"_

 _"And what if I lose you too?" The reply came right back without thought._

 _Allura stood in a stunned silence, both their bodies rigid with tension. That was when she decided to act._

 _Throwing hesitation and prosperity aside, the Princess of Altea closed the distance between them and pulled Keith close._  
 _Her arms enclosed around his torso and caught him in an_  
 _unexpected lip lock._

 _He hesitated for a brief second before also succumbing to the offered warmth._

 _Allura found herself backed up against the wall of the room and in a state of bliss as one of Keith's hands cupped her cheek, the other hooked around her, pulling her close. His lips dominated hers until moving up to her ear, and then neck._  
 _Ragged breaths and murmurs came from both their lips as the need to be closer intensified._

 _The recently awakened princess had never felt that much passion in a caress before in her life, and the unknown anticipation sent a shiver up her spine._

 _Her hands began to wander up and down his strong back, wishing the thin shirt was not there so she could feel his skin beneath. Her breath caught in her throat as his hands gently pulled her to him and something brushed up against her thigh._

 _It was that light gasp that brought reality back into at least her Paladin's mind. The frantic touches slowed a bit, and Keith rested his head in the crook of her neck._

 _"Princess," his breath wafted out in a husky tone as he tried to control his body. "We can't do this..."_

 _"Why not?" she tried not to sound whiney or pleadingly._

 _"We're in the middle of the training room," he laughed lightly, and pulled back; his frame still close, but not pressed up against her. "You're a Princess..." he continued, looking away for a moment, but she gave him a kiss to stop that line of thinking._

 _"Of a castle ship," she smiled once she pulled back and gazed into his eyes. "No planet means no arcane laws and restrictions."_

 _"We... we should at least take things slower," Allura could feel and see the conflicting desires in the dark eyes that looked straight into hers. He wanted this too; the feelings were there, but right now..._

 _'He's right,' she sighed internally. Right now they were all ruled by too much emotion and not enough thought._

 _"Alright Keith," she conceded after a lighter kiss. "We both have a lot on our plates right now, but please don't block me out. You aren't alone this time. Remember that."_

 _"I'll try." He smiled. "And when we do this, I want it to be for the right reasons and when we're ready for ... um... all the things that come with it." He turned a light shade of red, and Allura nodded as she rested her forehead against his._

* * *

Allura couldn't help but sigh thinking back on that event. Since that heated meeting less than a week ago, Keith stepped up into the leadership role she knew he could handle.

On a few occasions, when they weren't interrupted by their friends or duties, the two had stolen brief moments together. A warm caress or a peck on the lips after a good practice or training session, to more heated and needy moments in a quiet hallway. Keith's energy and passion only drew her into their new relationship more and more. However, they had yet to take things much further than they had gone in the training room.

One reason for that came with the lack of time. When not training with Keith and the others in the Lions, the team found themselves working with the Blade in liberating other planets. Once liberated, negotiations and alliances needed hammering out. With Coran by her side as the royal advisor, and her knight and still reluctantly labeled leader of Voltron, Keith, they had met with a handful of people from other planets.

' _He has much more to do than I do, and I'm exhausted,'_ Allura thought as she turned from her mirror and walked towards the doorway. She was all prepared for the latest strategy meeting. Coran had made a fuss about appearances, so to appease her friend and advisor, Allura took the time to make sure the bags under her eyes didn't show, and her dress wasn't wrinkled in the slightest.

Keith's new role meant so much more than either of them thought. Not only did he spend time with her in Blue Lion, or watching her interactions with the rest in the simulators, Hunk's newest creation, he was with Lance working on creating the new bond and working out the quirks of the Red Lion- not to mention his newness to the Black Lion. Added on top of all that came with the strategy meetings and planning that the Blade and the new Alliance needed. It was exhausting to think about all that and his own personal turmoil with losing Shiro.

The looks that the newly liberated peoples gave towards the Blade of Marmoura disturbed him. And Allura could see that so clearly that she felt offended for them. And yet, she understood the hesitation to trust. She had to learn to see past all that, and she hoped these people would as well.

' _He's dealing with it all so well considering,'_ she thought, _'I wish there were something I could do to help_.'

Her short walk to the conference room did not allow her to find any solutions. Instead, she entered and found Keith, Kolivan and several officials from the Alliance looking over a map of the surrounding planets.

"Thank you all for coming," her well-mannered and trained political voice began, "shall we begin?"

* * *

Keith felt exhausted.

' _Understatement of the millennium_ ,' he laughed at himself as he laid down on his bed.

"I don't even remember the last time I got to bed before midnight," his voice sounded strained to his ears. This new level of responsibility certainly took its toll on him in many ways. "I'll have to come up with a way to thank Allura for cutting that session short." He yawned and kicked off his shoes. Stretching out against the sheets of his bed, the former pilot of the Red Lion looked up at his ceiling, letting his mind drift.

So much had changed. And while he hated to admit it, things were looking up in many areas, just not the one that seemed to lead to Shiro or them forming Voltron with much success.

"The people want Voltron, but we can't yet get it together. And I can't be angry at anyone, everything's a bit off when it comes to the team. Lance is doing rather well with Red. The Lion just doesn't seem to have that complete bond or trust him just yet. I know he can be a good pilot, and he's much better than what I remembered of him at the Garrison. And I feel that Black and I are doing fine. I've got to get over this fear that Shiro somehow bonded completely with the Lion and disappeared into some other world." Keith stopped himself and let out a laugh. "I must be tired. That sounds ridiculous."

But deep down he couldn't entirely disprove that idea.

With the help of Coran and Pidge, a few files left over from King Alfor were found in the ship's deep archives. The information didn't prove much assistance but did shed some light on the original paladins on the Lions.  
"We know that the original pilots came from four different planets. Alfor and the pilot of the Blue Lion were Altean. Zarkon had the Black, while Green was piloted by a Polluxian, and the Yellow, a Sendarian. Unfortunately, those planets didn't survive Zarkon's attacks. He certainly wanted to destroy all traces of the other pilots for some reason. And still no mention of why the tensions happened or how the Lions got to their resting places."

Stopping himself, Keith shook his head.

Allura had not sent him to rest for him to be running through all of the potential clues. He needed sleep. Tomorrow the castle ship planned to take off to a new side of this quadrant where a large fleet of Galra massed.

Word from the Blade's inside operatives told of Zarkon's son returning to assume the throne. Not much was known about this Prince Lotor. Zarkon must not have cared much to have his son at his side because this was the first the Voltron Force heard about the young Galran Prince.

"It couldn't have been that easy, right?" Keith chuckled wishing that the end of the Galra Empire would have come with the demise of Zarkon. "Was Shiro that naive in thinking that this would be over so quickly?"

Somewhere after that the fatigue that he faced won out against his mind's desire to think about the situation much longer.

The next thing he knew was the sound of his communicator going off and him waking with a start. Sitting up, he quickly answered the com, to hear Kolivan's voice on the other end.

"Apologies for waking you up, Keith, but I wanted to have a word with you before you and your team began morning drills. And also to invite you to a sparring session."

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Keith looked at the clock in this room.

"Don't worry about it." He replied and moved to get up out of bed. "I'll be in the training room in about a dobash if you want to meet me there. The rest of the crew won't be up for another ten or so."

"Thank you." And with that, the line turned off.

Quickly changing his under shirt, and splashing cool water on his face, Keith left his room to confront the day.

"You wanted to talk?" Keith said as he approached the leader of the Blade int eh large training room. The room was empty save for the larger man.

"Yes, our intel brought back new information regarding the son of Zarkon."

"Prince Lotor?" He pulled out his blade and activated it. Kolivan did the same.

"He has gained the support of a large portion of his father's army. That we had not expected so quickly." The larger Galran said as he and Keith began their practice sessions.

As a way to better prepare himself and his crew for the continuing battles, Keith had initiated something Shiro had been reluctant to do- morning training practices. They were in no shape to fight hand-to-hand if need be, except for Allura and her Altea abilities. Therefore, Keith started the team's day off with meditation and some kind of physical practice.

As their leader, he needed to be doubly prepared and that was part of the reason he often began his days earlier and ended later.

"We'll need to move faster with liberating the rest of the Denublan Galaxy then," Keith grunted as he tried to go up against Kolivan's strength. Knowing that he didn't stand a chance against his sparring partner's sheer force, or Allura's for that matter, Keith used his agility and quick thinking to counter the attack he knew was coming.

As Kolivan went for an opening that Keith had baited him with, the smaller warrior moved with a back swing of his glowing blade. That was blocked, but Kolivan didn't see the Black Bayard activate in his other arm. The new blade came slicing through the air and stopped just inches from the Galran man.

"That was a smart move." The older fighter conceded and the two broke apart panting slightly. "We will certainly need smart moves like that on the battlefield today."

"What other intel do we have from those on the inside?" Keith asked turning off both blades and hooking them back into their place on his belt. "Will Lotor's forces be on Tamartha when we get there?"

"While we are not sure that Lotor himself will be, just know that with him taking the throne, the fighters will have a renewed spirit. I fear we've been lucky with their confusion and in-fighting."

"As much as I hate luck, I'm thankful that we've had a chance to pick up the pieces. We were close to getting Voltron together yesterday."

"Close is still not a success," the deadpan voice had Keith frown.

"I'd rather not send all the Lions into battle and hope that we can form Voltron if needed, but sounds like we have no time to waste."

"Indeed, also, one more thing. Our spy also made a note of some files that were found. It appears that Zarkon had a secret section of the archive guarded heavily, but with him out of commission, the witch has diverted resources elsewhere. Our spy thinks that some of the information you seek on the origins of the fighting and your heritage may reside in those files."

"Where are they?"

"Somewhere still too risky to go himself. We cannot jeopardize another member of the Blade at the moment."

The look on Kolivan's face appeared apologetic, and Keith fully understood.

"Thanks," he nodded taking in all the information. "As much as I'd love to get some answers, it sounds like Lotor and his forces need to take priority number one."

Before the two could resume their fight or add to the conversation, the doors to the training hall opened, and several tired looking faces entered.

"How can you both be up?" Lance scowled looking at Keith and the larger figure. "And functioning?" The shiny looking skin told Keith that Lance had recently awoken and wiped off his nightly face mask treatment.

"No rest for the wicked," Hunk grumbled as he yawned. "And these morning practices are just that… wicked."

"It's not so bad," Pidge stretched. "And we've improved a lot in the last week."

"As long as I get to partner up with the princess," Lance smiled and instantly came awake looking over at Allura. "Baby, you can throw me around the room _allllll_ day."

"For that comment, I might let her," Keith spoke up cutting off the lighthearted chatter from the team. "We've got a battle ahead of us today, so don't overdo it this morning. We'll do a longer meditation set and then head to breakfast. After that, we'll have a briefing and then it's to the Lions."

"Yes Sir, Mullet Sir," Lance quipped and got a light chuckle from the group before Kolivan left the room and Keith began to walk the team through their morning warm ups.

"Focus the energy in on your center," he instructed as the team went through the fluid movements together, "and then look outward. You should feel those around you. When you are in your Lions, focus in on yourself and then sense the presence there with you." He coached and they continued for some time later.

"And a deep breath in, and now let it out. Open your eyes and find your center once more."

"Wow, that part gets me every time," Hunk sighed feeling relaxed.

"What? That it is over and it is food time?" Lance joked getting a sweat towel flung at his head.

"Ok, team, get some food, then into flight gear." Keith brought them back to the task at hand.

"I'll make pancakes!" Hunk sang out as he, Pidge and Lance left the room. As Keith wiped the sweat from his face on a towel he had resting around his neck, Allura took the opportunity to saunter closer.

Looking up into his eyes, Keith tried to convey to her that he was fine.

' _She worries about me too much,_ ' he thought finding the sensation of others thinking and caring about him something he liked.

"Do I get a good morning kiss?" She asked sweetly, making sure the room was clear.

Keith smiled and leaned in towards her.

"I owe you much more, my princess." He cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers.

"I'm happy with this, just like we are now." Her reply came in a breathy tone, her hand gripped his arms, not wanting to back away for a little while longer. "I'm glad you look much more rested today."

"I am, and I'm going to need it. Today sounds like our smooth ride is ending."

"Oh?" She asked easing up on the closeness to get a better look at his face.

"Kolivan had new intel about this Prince Lotor character. He's solidifying power."

"Drat," she frowned. "So that means we will be up against a good fight today in all likelihood."

"You don't have to come out and fly with us. I know you've made significant progress and I trust your abilities… But know if you would rather hang back and help Coran with the castle," he began but was cut off.

"No, I've got to be out there with you all."

"Just let me know if it's too much, and stay close to Hunk, ok?"

"I promise." She smiled as he snuck one more kiss before turning around and facing the door.

"Let's grab some food, shall we?"

"Asking me out to a meal? Why Keith Kogane, how romantic." The pair savored the lightened mood as they walked towards the castle's kitchen, as they both knew another trial laid out before them.

* * *

 _Oh, snap! Lotor's debut in the next chapter! And lots of fluff in this one, yeah, the bunnies were in the mood for the fuzzies. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you back here soon for the next chapter!_


End file.
